All My Friends Are Superheroes
by Moonshimmer Shadow-Phoenix
Summary: Being a teenaged hero is no walk in the park; juggling school, homework, superpowers, friends and family can be tough, especially when you and your secret boyfriend are tiptoeing around teammates, parents and mentors. However, sometimes in life you have to just stop worrying, and let the stones fall where they may. It might not be that bad, after all. Season 1. AU/OOC. Birdflash.
1. Nocturnal Visit

**All My Friends Are Superheroes**

 **Summary** : Being a teenaged hero is no walk in the park; juggling school, homework, superpowers, friends and family can be tough, especially when you and your secret boyfriend are tiptoeing around teammates, parents and mentors. However, sometimes in life you have to just stop worrying, and let the stones fall where they may. It might not be that bad, after all. Season 1. AU/OOC. Birdflash.

 **Eventual Pairings** : BirdFlash (Wallace "Wally" West/Richard "Dick" Grayson), SuperMartian (Conner "Kon-El" Kent/M'gann M'orzz), RedVision (Roy Harper, Jr./OC), MysticTiger (Zatanna Zatara/Artemis Crock), Torpedo (Kaldur'ahm/Raquel "Roxy" Ervin), GhostWire (Mihael "Mello" Keehl/Mail "Matt" Jeevas), SuperShadow (OC/Damian Al Ghul), WhiteWonder (Nate "Near" River/Cassandra "Cassie" Sandsmark), SpeedCat (Mia Dearden/Jason Todd), LongBat (Connor Hawke-Queen/Barbara "Babs" Gordon), BraveBird (OC/Timothy "Tim" Drake), QuickIce (OC/Cameron "Cam" Mahkent), BlackArrow (Dinah Lance/Oliver "Ollie" Queen), WestAllen (Iris West-Allen/Bartholomew "Barry" Allen), BatCat (Bruce Wayne/Selina Kyle), SuperWonder (Clark Kent/Diana Prince).

 **My Original Characters** : Sushmita "Sush" Desai (Soothsayer), Olivia "Liv" Hawke-Queen (Brave Bow), Kyra "Kay-El" Kent (Supergirl), Felicity Chase (Quickclaw), Pyotr Andreyev (Peter Andrews), Anastasia Ivanova (Anya Evans), Leanne "Lea" West-Grayson (Stargazer).

 **Rating** : M, for sexual themes, language, violence, and dark/possibly triggering subject matter.

 **Point Of View** : Third person's POV, set in past tense/story format, with dreams/thoughts italicized. The focus will mainly be on Robin and Kid Flash, of course, but I fully plan to further explore their interactions with the team, and also with their JLA mentors. Story starts after the team has been established, right after the end of their first official mission together.

 **Warnings** : Adventure, Age Differences, Alcohol, Alternate Universe (Earth-16 AU), Anal Sex, Angst, Anxiety Attacks, Asexuality, Attempted Sexual Assault/Rape, Bisexuality, Black Comedy, Child Abuse, Coming Out, Crossdressing, Crackiness, Depression, Death, Demisexuality, Different Fandom Characters, Discrimination, Drama, Drinking Games, Drugs, Erotic Spanking, Family & Friendships, Flashbacks, Fluff, Gore, Heterosexuality, Homosexuality, Hurt/Comfort, Hurt!Robin, Hurt!Wally, Kidnapping, Language, Lemons, Manual Bondage, Masturbation, Medical Babble, Mental Illness, Mentioned Assault (Physical & Sexual), Mood Whiplash, Multi-Chapter Fic, Murder, Mythology Babble, Nightmares, Non-Beta'd, Non-Canon Pairings, NSFW, Offensive Humor, OOCness, Oral Sex, Original Characters, Pansexuality, Past Child Abuse (Non-Explicity Mentioned/Implied), Prostitution (Mentioned), Protective!Wally, Psychopathy, PTSD, PWP, Race/Gender/Sexuality Prejudice, Rape (Past: Non-Explicitly Implied/Mentioned), Religious Babble, Romance, Satire, Seduction, Self-Harm, Sexuality/Sexual Confusion, Sexual Themes, Shenanigans, Sick!Robin, Slash, Slash (M/M, M/F, F/F), Spoilers, Suicidal Thoughts (Mentioned), Superpowers, TBT (Teenagers Being Teenagers), Teasing, Timeskips, Time Travel, Torture (Non-Graphic), Trigger Warnings, Underage Drinking, Underage Driving, Underage Sex, Vigilantism, Violence (Explicit & Non-Graphic), Weirdness, etc.

 **Author's Note (Contains Spoilers!)** : First thing's first, I'm only putting these warnings on the first chapter so I'm not wasting space with every knew one, so make sure you read them, and maybe check back once in a while in case I added/edited it, which I do. Note that not all of the warnings are guaranteed to happen, I just like to be safe in case there's anything that might trigger or squick out the readers. Also, please be aware that this story is an AU of the first season of Young Justice. We all know about the shit the Reach and the Light pulled, but I would rather write a story further exploring the angst, drama and excitement a group of teenaged superheroes go to rather than write about a dark, possibly apocalyptic future. As such, Wally is not dead (never gonna happen in my stories - EVER!), none of my babies are dead, okay? There's only one Roy Harper in my story - but don't worry, even if he's not a clone, he's still an asshole who cares very much about his friends. Also, I'm going to be following some of the events of S01, mostly because I'm not nearly creative enough to come up with a ton of all original missions for them, but there will be some. Also, I fully intend to also go more into the relationships between the JLA and the YJL, because I think protective adult superheroes is something sweet. This isn't gonna be a sapfest or anything, I just can't help but watch the show and think "Jesus! These kids need their parents around, where are they?" So for those of you who want DaddyBats, MamaCanary, and Superman not being a complete tool, enjoy!

 **Disclaimer** : I don't own Young Justice, its characters, or any other non-YJ, but still DC, characters that appear in this story. I also don't own the characters Mello, Matt and Near (from Death Note), who I'll drag in just because I feel like it. However, I didn't label this as a crossover because it's not set in the world of "Death Note", but rather, I simply stole my favorite characters from it and altered them slightly. I make no profit off of this story, it's only for my own and others' enjoyment.

* * *

 _"If you don't go after what you want, you'll never have it. If you don't ask, the answer is always no. If you don't step forward, you're always in the same place." - Nora Roberts_

* * *

Just who the hell did Robin think he was?

Wally had no idea, all he knew was that he was beyond pissed off. Even after the team had sort of unanimously designated Aqualad to be their leader, the young speedster was still fuming with anger over the argument he'd had with a certain masked brunette.

He always acted like he was so much superior, just because...because - well, Wally didn't even know _why_ , but the kid was so fucking _cocky_. Robin might have been his best friend in the entire world, and he may have loved him to death, but that didn't change that he constantly frustrated him with his stupid ninja tricks and his sunglasses-at-night douching up the place and _argggggh!_

If it were just the _oh-so-subtle_ jabs at his intellect, the redhead might not have minded as much as he did. Wally _knew_ that he was smart, so did his family, he wouldn't be taking all AP high school courses come September if he wasn't! After all not just _anyone_ could successfully recreate the Flash (to a lesser degree, sure, but that wasn't the point!) without having a brain cell or two. Besides, everyone was entitled to their opinion, and he didn't care if one person thought he wasn't very bright.

But then the little punk had the nerve to insinuate that he'd be nothing without his speed!

Like he was any better!

At least Wally actually _had_ a power. He didn't need to rely on shiny toys that his daddy bought for him. What was even up with _that_ , anyway? He knew Robin was Batman's sidekick, but like...was the man his guardian too, or something? He'd never heard the kid actually talk about his parents. Hell, he wouldn't even tell them his real name.

Oh, _whatever_ , it didn't even matter.

Sure, maybe Robin hadn't _intended_ it to come out that way, but that's exactly what it sounded like when he said it. It hadn't always been that way. He and Rob often teased each other good-naturedly, but ever since their team formed Robin had been strutting around like he had something to prove.

Perhaps Wally wasn't as skilled of a fighter as the Batman's progeny, and maybe he didn't have cool stealth training, but so what? He added his own contributions to the team! He was also over two years older than the other teenager.

The raven-haired boy simply didn't appreciate that, at all.

If he wasn't so damn cute Wally probably would have punched the smug smirk right off of his annoying, pretty face weeks ago.

Okay, yes, maybe the words had hurt a little more than he wanted to admit to himself, and he was covering it up with anger, but it wasn't as though Wally _liked_ Robin or anything. He wasn't exactly the redhead's type, even if he knew he wasn't really one hundred percent straight. While his preferences had always been more for women, but he couldn't deny having had attraction to guys before, too. It wasn't that big of a deal or anything - Wally could have been as queer as a three dollar bill, but the younger teen would have still been nothing more than an arrogant shit that happened to be kind of nice to look at.

At least, that's what he told himself.

Good thing too, considering his personality certainly left something to be desired.

Right, that wasn't entirely fair of him. Wally knew he wasn't the friendliest teammate towards the bird, but could you really blame him with how Robin had been acting all day? The kid was a _freak!_ Always giggling and vanishing into the shadows, expecting everyone to follow his lead, because _of course_ they were all just supposed to magically predict what the guy was planning.

Grumbling irritably to himself, the redhead covered his face with a pillow and groaned, almost wishing he hadn't told his parents he wanted to stay at Mount Justice until the summer was over. It hadn't occurred to him until the fight that this meant he would be stuck in this place with Robin who, concidentally, was also remaining there until school began.

That was when he heard a light tapping at his bedroom door, "Wally? It's me," a familiar voice called out.

Fuck his life.

"I don't know anyone named 'me,'" The speedster muttered under his breath, before reluctantly calling out, his words muffled, "It's unlocked."

Wally heard the metal door slide open, and the light footsteps, but for a moment there was nothing, "...Should I give you two some privacy?" He asked.

It took a moment for him to figure out that Robin was talking about the pillow he still had draped over his face, and instantly he felt even more annoyed, chucking it aside and sitting up quickly, "What the hell do you want, Bird Brain? I'm not fluent in _Prick_ , so if you have something to say, _say it_ , or _get out_." He pointed at the door.

Robin seemed puzzled by the amount of venom the redhead displayed, which wasn't all that surprising. He was generally more upbeat than this, and rarely lost his temper unless _really_ ticked off. "Uh, I just wanted to make sure we were, y'know, cool?"

Pfft.

With a roll of his eyes, Kid Flash sarcastically responded, "Yeah, we're cool, Mr. Sunglasses-At-Night. Practically popsicles. Now if you'll excuuuuuse me-" he then proceeded to yank the comforter folded at the end of his bed up over his head, so he no longer had to see the younger boy.

Silence.

Wally had almost begun to hope the kid had left...

...and then the blanket was being pulled away from his face. He scowled up at bird, " _What?_ "

"You're mad at me, aren't you?" Robin's tone was unusually soft for a moment, and the redhead blinked up at him warily, thinking he saw something almost _human-like_ on the kid's face, but it was gone before he could be sure.

Covering up his faltering irritation at the raven-haired boy's presence, he stood and passed Robin, purposely bumping his shoulder against the younger teen's, "Geez, someone call the newspaper! We've got Happy Harbour's next MENSA canidate right here!"

He pretended to be studying his bookshelf.

"What's _wrong_ with you?" Robin demanded, more sharply, and the redhead inwardly grinned, it looked like he was finally starting to get on the thirteen-year-old's nerves.

Good.

When he didn't answer, the pale boy continued, "What are you even doing?"

"Looking for a book," Wally fake gasped and spun around to face the bird, "Shocker, isn't it? I can actually read!"

A perplexed expression appeared on Boy Wonder's face, "Huh? Why would that be a shock?"

"I dunno, maybe because everytime I so much as disagree with you, you all but imply I should be locked up in some special ed kids' class with a bucket in my lap to for catching drool." he sneered.

Okay, that was kind of mean, he admitted it, but the look of shocked disbelief, followed very shortly by guilt, that crossed Robin's face made it kind of worth it.

"Wally, I..." Robin swallowed, fidgeting in place, hesitating, "I _don't_ think you're stupid." It seemed almost like he wanted to apologize, but that probably would have been too out of character for the kid. Still it wasn't enough, considering the bird was constantly making him feel like shit.

"Could've fooled me."

Nothing on his shelf looked all that appealing at the moment, so he just grabbed some science magazine and plopped back down on the bed, pointedly ignoring Robin's presence.

"What do you want me to say?"

Peeking at him over the pages, Wally noticed he actually seemed sincere. Maybe he _hadn't_ meant to hurt his feelings. In which case, the speedster could totally use this to his advantage. He could mess around with the kid for a bit, see if he could piss him off; push his buttons like he somehow _always_ managed to do to the redhead, "How 'bout you admit it?"

It was hard to tell with the shades he was wearing, but the teen could swear Robin was blinking at him in confusion.

"Admit what?"

Glaring openly at him now, Wally responded through gritted teeth, "Admit that you think you're _better_ than me, that you always have. That you think without my speed I'd be nothing but some kid that doesn't even deserve to be on the team!" He blew up at the end of the last sentence, "You _constantly_ look down on me! Is it 'cause I can't fight as well as you can, or the fact that I don't go to some private prep school like you probably do? Why the hell are you even _here_ \- don't you have some fancy mansion to be at?"

Robin actually took a step away, taken aback by the outbust, and he was completely quiet for a good couple of minutes, his face unreadable, "...I'm sorry, Wally," he said in a hushed voice.

Huh, looks like he _wasn't_ a machine.

"Sorry isn't good enough!"

Okay, he was faking being madder than he actually was, but by this point he was kind of having fun. Wally almost decided that he was going too far, and contemplated letting Robin in on his tease, but something made him change his mind.

"What is, then?!" The raven-haired boy blurted out, rather anxiously.

Bingo.

Wally hadn't actually thought that it would _work_ , so the kid was either really gullible, or he honestly felt bad about their fight still. The thing about speedsters was that they rarely held grudges for long. Everything was so fleeting for them, when time went by in the blink of an eye. Still, despite his internal insistence that he felt nothing beyond friendship and mild attraction for the other boy, the redhead instantly knew what he wanted, "A kiss."

The look on Robin's face was absolutely _priceless_ , "W-What?"

"You heard me. I want a kiss. A smooch. A peck. A liplock. Spit swap. Tongue tango. Whatever you want to call it." The redhead grinned slightly at the positively flabbergasted expression on the brunette's face. "Just a small one. Then I'll forgive you, and we'll be all good again."

Even as he was saying it, Wally wanted to kick himself. What was he doing? This was _Robin_ , his rival and his best friend, and he was freaking _thirteen_. Everyone else on the team believed Robin was born on December 1st, 1996, but Wally knew the truth - he was actually born in March of '97, meaning he wouldn't actually be fourteen until spring of next year. His own birthday was January 16th, 1995. By his calculations that was an age difference of roughly 794 days, give or take. The kid was way too young, it could practically be a crime. For all he knew it actually _was_ one. Why was he trying to extort a kiss from him anyways?

Robin stared at him in open-mouthed shock for a moment, before managing to partially compose himself, "You... you _can't_ be _serious_."

"Maybe I'm not," The speedster replied, stretching out against his mattress, "Maybe I'm just screwing with you." He peeked at the other boy, and smirked, because he seemed completely bewildered by his behavior. "But.. what if I actually _did_ want a kiss, hmm?"

"You're just trying to trick me," said Robin, now looking perturbed.

The ginger chuckled, "Am I?"

"Since when do you kiss anything that isn't in a skirt?"

"..."

He probably had that coming, but still, _ouch_.

Wally considered firing back some equally snarky comment about how women's clothes would probably be an improvement to Robin's usual attire, but refrained. He wasn't trying to be a complete dick, after all, he just wanted to have a little fun. "Fair point. But just because I've never hit on a guy in front of _you_ doesn't mean I've never hit on a guy _period_."

More staring, and at that moment the redhead really did wish he could see the Boy Wonder's eyes, it would make it so much easier to tell what he was thinking and feeling without those stupid shades. When Robin didn't say anything for a while, Wally pulled himself up into a sitting position so he could look at the kid more closely, "What's wrong, Birdie? You afraid of catching my cooties? Or just worried that my fag swag will rub off on you?" He winked playfully at him, a bit of sarcasm oozing into his tone.

To his surprise, the younger teen clenched his jaw, the confused look being replaced with hurt and anger, apparently starting to catch on to KF's little game, "Forget it. Your forgiveness isn't worth _that_ much, Wally!" He turned and started to march out.

Even after having time to think about it, the speedster still wouldn't know what possessed him to do what he did next.

Before the bird could leave, Wally was up and off of the bed, zipping across the small room and slamming the door shut with a little more force than necessary, causing Robin to stop as it closed inches away from his face. He turned to frown at his teammate.

If the action startled him, he didn't show it.

"Okay, maybe I was playing with you, a _little_ bit, but it doesn't mean I was joking about before."

Robin rose an eyebrow at him, clearly skeptical, crossing his arms.

Bracing his arm against the doorframe, Wally couldn't help noticing how he towered over the younger teen. He often forgot just how small the boy was. But in this moment it was plainly obvious. The kid seemed to realize it as well, because he shifted slightly, still peering up at the redhead, expectantly.

The freckled boy smiled and leaned closer, "Not too late for that kiss, you know." He whispered, coyly.

With shock, Wally noticed the way his cheeks appeared to color slightly.

Robin was _blushing?_

Was he in the Twilight Zone or something?

Then again, everything at the moment was feeling kind of surreal.

It struck him just how serious he felt in that moment. It might have been a game earlier, but it certainly wasn't _now_. Standing so close like this, it was impossible not to notice that Robin, as young as he was, still happened to be insanely good-looking.

"Your choice, Little Bird."

He was slowly getting closer to the brunette, _very close_ , and his friend tensed when he and Wally were merely inches apart, but failed to back up or protest either, a fact that didn't slip by the speedster.

Wally smiled inwardly, heart pounding, and closed the distance between them, capturing Robin's lips with his own.

The younger boy froze in place, but he didn't move away. Whether because he didn't _want_ to or was simply too _stunned_ to didn't actually occur to Wally. Which, if he had known then what he would by the end of the week, it might not have surprised him. Instead of pulling away, the speedster snaked his arm around the bird's waist and drew him in closer, his other hand reaching up to cup the back of the brunette's head.

Robin's lips were so soft, and sweet.

Unable to help himself, he pressed their mouths together a little harder, and heard, _felt_ , the other teen let out a shaky gasp in response, giving him the chance to slip his tongue into the kiss. Despite the promise of a quick, simple peck earlier, Wally quickly forgot about everything, his mind racing so fast that his thoughts were incoherent to even himself.

His fingers threaded through Robin's deep black hair, mapping out the teen's mouth far more gently and slowly than he had previously with anyone else he'd ever made out with.

Acutely aware of hands suddenly gripping his shoulders, Wally braced himself, fully knowing that the other boy could push him away at any second and kick his ass for pulling this, but was shocked to realize, even with his eyes closed, that Robin's fingers were clenched in his shirt.

The kid was trembling slightly, and he was just about to pull away, admittedly a bit concerned for his friend, but heard the brunette make a strange noise in the back of his throat, before he felt weight pushing against him unexpectedly.

 _Robin is kissing me back._

It was this realization that sent lust searing through him, and within seconds, Wally had broken away from Robin, spun them around, and pushed the other boy up against his bedroom door, crushing their mouths back together in a bruising kiss, their bodies pressed against each other, ignoring the voice screaming in his head that he shouldn't be doing this with him at all.

Even though Wally often jokingly referred to himself as being a ladies man, there actually was truth to that statement.

When he flirted and/or fooled around with girls, he always knew _exactly_ what he was doing (most of the time), despite some of the team not believing that he lived up to his bragging. He was pretty popular at school for that reason alone. Usually, however, he always went in knowing what to expect. But now? It was just the opposite. He felt completely overwhelmed, acting on instinct alone.

 _What the hell do you think you're doing?!_ His brain screamed at him as the speedster tried to drown it out, _Robin is barely a teenager! He's also your best friend! Batman will kill you if he finds out!_

He was biting and softly licking at Robin's perfect lips, tracing their outline with the tip of his tongue, and this time the ninja parted his lips willingly, letting out a shaky breath. Soon, Wally was thrusting his tongue back into the younger boy's mouth, massaging the other's wet appendage with his own, exploring hungrily, and the younger teen's arms were curling slowly around his neck, holding on as if it were the only thing keeping him up.

The speedster was in something akin to a trance, his hands sliding up the brunette's sides, almost caressing him through the thin red t-shirt he was wearing, shoving their hips together suddenly, causing Robin to jolt back, breaking the kiss with a soft whine.

" _Wally..._ " he breathed, his voice hoarse, and the ginger took a moment to admire what had become of the Boy Wonder. His face was now visibly flushed, and he was panting for air, lips shiny with saliva - his or Wally's, he wasn't sure. Probably both.

Not that the speedster was left unaffected by the last few minutes.

Oh, no, his heart was racing even faster than what was normal for him, and his jeans _definitely_ felt tighter. He shifted, uncomfortably, and his friend let out a low whimper when Wally's thigh pressed against his clothed erection, arching slightly into the pressure.

Blinking, Wally leaned back slightly so he could look Robin up and down, sporting a sly grin when he noticed the other teen was equally turned on by their impromptu make out session.

Dipping his head down, the redhead allowed his lips to gently brush over his friend's ear, making a shiver run down Robin's spine. "You enjoying yourself too, Boy Wonder?" he whispered, slowly sliding his hands down the length of Robin's arms, reaching for him like he was going to hold his hands, before his fingers curled around the brunette's wrists, moving down further to intertwine their fingers.

Behind his shades, the other boy donned a confused, visibly flustered look.

A rather wicked smirk appeared on Wally's face, and before the raven-haired teen could question his actions, he jerked their joined arms up, pinning Robin's hands against the door, high above his head, stretching both of their bodies out.

Robin's gaze flashed up, before he stared back at the redhead, and the speedster knew full well he could get out of the hold at any moment with some fancy ninja move... but he didn't appear inclined to do so just yet. Still grinning, Wally leaned forward, and Robin seemed to expect another kiss.

That's not what he was going for, though.

Instead, Wally slowly moved their faces closer together, drawing the tip of his nose up along the boy's jawline, and while hearing his friend's breathing stutter was immensely pleasing, it still wasn't enough. Teasing was fun, but the redhead was pretty worked up himself at that point, so he merely brought his mouth back to Robin's ear, nibbling lightly at the lobe, and began kissing a trail down his throat, feeling the brunette's pulse hammer against his lips, before he abruptly ground their hips together again, hissing at the delicious friction.

" _Nnnngh...!_ " Robin squirmed in the older boy's hold, craning his head back unconsciously, "W-Wally..."

The speedster stiffened for a moment, because he'd never heard anyone make just his name sound _that_ dirty, even by accident. Shaking it off, he kissed Robin again, more fiercely this time, and even less controlled, claiming him with his lips and tongue as he kept pressing their groins together, rocking against him sharply.

Wally had forgotten everything else around them. The room temperature seemed to get hotter and hotter, dizzying fog clouding over his brain, and the need for air steadily increasing even though he couldn't bring himself to pull away, instead releasing the other teen just so he could take Robin's face in his hands and pull him _closer_ , kiss him _deeper_.

At the moment, he was only mildly aware of the brunette's hands tightly grasping his shoulders as he seemed to instinctively thrust back against the redhead, letting out muffled moans that went right to his cock.

"A-Ah! Oh, mmmphh, Wally, _God..._ "

Holy shit, who knew the kid could even _make_ those sounds?

If anyone told him yesterday he'd be making out with _Robin_ of all people, with him pressed against the door while they got each other off through their clothes like the hormonal teenagers they were, he'd have laughed in their face. Because really, the two of them were often at odds with each other even at the best of times.

But the heat radiating from their skin and the scent of sweat that seemed to fill the room was absolutely _intoxicating_ , and he couldn't get enough of it. Wally felt a full-body shudder roll through him, a vibration, which accidentally increased the speed and friction of his movements, only heightening the pleasure, and causing him to release a low groan, his fingers tangling in his friend's raven hair, gripping it tightly.

He could hear Robin gasping for air in between their now sloppy kisses, which were at this point mostly clicking teeth and wet tongues, and it shouldn't have been hot but it _really_ was.

From the sounds that the other teen was making and the way he seemed to be quivering against him, Wally could tell he was close, and at this point it was too late to stop even if he _wanted_ to, which he definitely did _not_. Concentrating as much as he could on channelling the kinetic energy rolling off of him in waves, the redhead increased the vibrations, driving his hips even harder into the other boy's, listening to him cry out in response.

It was so hot, hearing him make those desperate little whining sounds, like a wordless plea.

With how turned on they both were, and the rate at which they were going, it didn't take long at all before they were reaching the edge; Wally felt Robin's whole body suddenly tense up, the boy let out a strangled moan as he jerked against him once more before he came, and the sound of it alone was enough for the redhead to reach completion right after, shuddering and pressing heavily against his friend.

The room was silent save for their panting attempts to catch their breath, and when his heart no longer felt like it was about to jump out of his chest, Wally let out an airy laugh as he took a few steps back, not seeing the way that Robin was trembling...

Until he nearly fell.

Wally caught him, of course, before he could hit the ground, steadying him on his feet before letting go, "That was, uh, nice, wasn't it?" he smiled down at his red-faced friend, noticing how he seemed even more adorable than before now that he was flushed all over. His post-orgasmic grin faded slightly when he realized the other boy wasn't even looking at him (though it was hard to tell with the sunglasses), and how he didn't speak.

"Robin?" Wally asked, a little nervously, putting a hand on his shoulder, "You okay?"

The raven-haired boy fidgeted, refusing to lift his head and meet the ginger's concerned gaze, eventually blurting out, "I-I have to go!" He spun around quickly and took several seconds too long fumbling to open the bedroom door before slipping out, disappearing down the hall.

Wally had the urge to chase after him.

But he didn't.

* * *

 **Well, this is chapter one. I, at first, intended to do simply a oneshot of Dick and Wally making up from their little fight over the team's leadership, but got to wondering. This seems like a popular pairing, and I can see why because I really love the characters' dynamic, so I decided to just go with it and see what happened. I also want to write about the teams' friendships, and how they interact with JLA, so let me know if you have any requests.**

 **Be sure to review; tell me what you think so far, and if I should continue it!**


	2. Pillow Talk

**All My Friends Are Superheroes**

 **Summary** : Being a teenaged hero is no walk in the park; juggling school, homework, superpowers, friends and family can be tough, especially when you and your secret boyfriend are tiptoeing around teammates, parents and mentors. However, sometimes in life you have to just stop worrying, and let the stones fall where they may. It might not be that bad, after all. Season 1. AU/OOC. Birdflash.

 **Point Of View** : Third person's POV, set in past tense/story format, with dreams/thoughts italicized. The focus will mainly be on Robin and Kid Flash, of course, but I fully plan to further explore their interactions with the team, and also with their JLA mentors. Story starts after the team has been established, right after the end of their first official mission together.

* * *

" _A true best friend loves you even when it seems like you've gone off the deep end." - Liz Fenton_

* * *

Robin had not slept well at all last night.

Granted, that wasn't exactly unusual for him. He'd been plagued with reccurring bouts of insomnia since he was a kid, after the deaths of his family, and occasionally when he _did_ manage to fall asleep, he woke up from a nightmare at least once. It was at its worst around the one year anniversary, and it prompted his guardian to take him to see a psychologist specializing with adolescents.

Several short visits and a prescription for Ambien later, and now it rarely bothered him these days...

But this time the reason was completely unrelated to any childhood trauma of his.

All he could think about was Wally, about what had happened between them last night, in his bedroom.

The young teen had only gone there to be certain that they were still friends.

Sure, he'd known the others on his newly formed team for a while already, but Wally was his _best friend_. He'd met Aqualad and Speedy a while after Batman had _finally_ decided to introduce him to the founding members of the Justice League, a few weeks preceding his tenth birthday, which was already a while after he'd officially deemed him ready to start crime-fighting for real, on the streets of Gotham with him.

Having befriended all of them previously, aside from Superboy and M'gann, he knew them pretty well. Especially Wally, who he'd known for about two years and four months now (they had met in March of 2008), he was the first other sidekick he'd actually seen in person. He considered the redhead to be the closest of his companions, and so of course he could tell that something was bothering him; especially when KF had barely spoken after they returned from their first mission, and how he kept looking away whenever the two of them made eye contact.

Wally was one of the most happy, carefree and expressive people he knew, so the fact that he kept his head down and his mouth shut the whole ride back could have only meant one thing: that he was angry with Robin.

Thinking it over, it really didn't take a genius or a detective like Batman to figure out why that would be. After all, the only fight they'd had recently was of who would be a better team leader, and yeah, maybe he had said some hurtful things, but he really hadn't _meant_ a good portion of them, all he was trying to do was get KF to see his side of things.

Not that the other boy hadn't made a valid argument as well, like pointing out the fact that Robin was used to doing things with one partner - Batman, the man who had raised him from the age of nine and knew him better than anyone, and thus could predict him and understand his actions in ways the others did not. When Kaldur had later said the _exact same thing_ , it just made him feel even worse.

All he could think of was how disappointed Batman would be if he saw how awful his partner was at being a team player.

That, specifically, was what made him announce that the Atlantean should be their leader. If he wanted to take over one day, and he kind of did, he would work for it. He'd learn how to be synchronized with his team members the same way he was with his mentor, and prove himself to be capable of taking charge.

He had also wanted to tell Wally when he spoke to him that he hadn't intended to hurt his feelings.

But he got sidetracked.

First by Wally being irritatingly aloof and sarcastic during what was supposed to be a serious conversation, and then by _other things..._

Robin hadn't realized until he heard the speedster's comments just how _hurt_ he was by their fight. Sure, maybe he'd been more than a little unkind, but he never once thought Wally was actually unintelligent. A bit of a goofball and kind of dorky at times, in the endearing sort of way, but certainly far from dumb.

He had wanted to argue with what the ginger was telling him; he wanted to shout that it didn't _matter_ if Wally's family wasn't rich or anything like that - because he was a smart, _good_ person, and just as much a hero as any member of their team. He was a quick thinker and had a heart of gold, so it was irrelevant if his powers were something he gave himself, all that was important was that he used them for justice.

Those were only some of the things he'd wanted to say, but didn't.

Because he was truly afraid that Wally would see right through him, and realize just how much he _meant_ to Robin. Not only was the younger boy sorry, but he felt horrible about everything, because he'd let his temper, or rather, his _ego_ , cloud his judgement during their mission. But most of all, he was scared that if he said anything more than short, carefully chosen replies, that the other teen would figure it out.

Figure out about the crush Robin had been harboring for his friend, for almost as long as they'd known each other.

He hadn't always _known_ that's what it was. At first Wally mostly got on his nerves - he was a loud, hyperactive smartass (not much had changed there), but he also happened to be really... _cute_. Maybe not in the most conventional way, but Robin wasn't _blind_ \- he'd heard how the Flash's and KF's fans talked about him, and saw how they reacted to his flirting.

But really, who could blame them?

Red hair was considered the most rare and desirable (natural) hair colour in the world for a reason. Aside from that, he also had other physical attributes that a younger him had immediately admired: mesmerizing green eyes (also a recessive gene), a killer smile, and freckles that kind of reminded Robin of the clusters of stars which made up the constellations in the night sky.

Plus, it had also been nice talking to someone that understood what it was like. Batman was great and all, but he wasn't the most easy person to talk to, even with the cowl off. When he'd first arrived at the Wayne Manor, the nine-year-old boy had been intimidated by his dark stoicism. The speedster, however, was friendly and cheerful, and he could relate to the whole sidekick thing.

Not long after he hit age twelve, and puberty set in, the brunette began to notice other things about him though, stuff he'd never paid attention to before. The way his heart would grow warm and seemingly flutter whenever the boy so much as looked at him, or how every joke Wally told, no matter how lame, still made him want to laugh, just because of how it would light up his face whenever he did so, and how he would elbow Robin lightly and laugh along with him.

Wally was his very best friend, though, even if they didn't always get along. So like the good friend he _wanted_ to be, he ignored those feelings that he had, even as he watched on with a strange, tight pain in his chest as the redhead hit on every pretty female he encountered.

Even if he could consider ever admitting his crush to the older boy, he knew for a fact that Wally liked _girls_ , and to put him in such an uncomfortable and difficult situation would have been totally unfair. Courage to tell him aside, there would be no chance for _them_ anyways, because the Metahuman was _straight_.

At least, that's what he'd thought up until yesterday evening.

Okay, and maybe they didn't spend a ton of time together these days, but that was only because they had known their time to stand in the superhero limelight had been coming, and that they would get plenty of chances to hang out and do stuff like they used to, but still...

He had known the speedster for more than two years, and not once had Wally ever given off even the tiniest sign that he might have been anything other than one hundred percent, completely heterosexual.

Robin hadn't always liked boys. The former sidekick to Batman hadn't liked really _anyone_ for most of his admittedly short life.

Aside from Wally, he still didn't, actually.

He'd seen girls at Gotham Academy that were moderately pretty, he supposed, and in the media and stuff, but outside his street life, he'd been fairly sheltered after getting taken in by Bruce.

Before the redhead, he really didn't spend enough time with anyone else to develop feelings for them.

Thinking back, he vaguely remembered a young girl that had briefly been a part of Haly's Circus. He couldn't remember her name, and she'd only been with their group for a few weeks before leaving. But he been initially excited, because at the age of seven there weren't many other kids around that he could talk to, since everyone else was a grown up or someone in a crowd watching him.

She was training to be a magician's assistant. Rose, he recalled, had been a little older than him, with long and curly coppery coloured hair. Her teeth had braces and she was extremely pale, but he still vividly remembered that her eyes had been light, warm brown. Like milk chocolate. Before leaving the circus with her aunt, she'd given him a "magic" cane - a cool black trick one with white tips that hid a bunch of colorful faux flowers in the end.

A memory that stood out most was his father lightly teasing him when they had met that he had a "girlfriend," while his mother simply fawned over her little boy having his first crush.

There was also the small infatuation he'd had just before he met Wally, when he was nine. It was in none other than Commissioner Gordon's ten-year-old daughter, Barbara. Back then they weren't even friends but he still thought she was quite pretty, something Bruce and Al frequently traded him about.

It was sort of funny, looking back on it, that he'd had a thing for redheads even back then.

After first deducing his feelings for Wally (and, okay, he'd had help from Google), he began to wonder of his own sexuality. He didn't _think_ he was gay - Rose had been young, but definitely a girl. Did that make him bisexual? If so, why were there only three people that he could remember having feelings for?

There were so many terms that learning about it all gave him a huge headache.

In the end it had just left him questioning even more.

But none of that was what had kept him awake last night, tossing and turning in bed. He'd gotten used to admiring Wally in secret by now, after all.

No, what bothered him was what happened _after_ he apologized to Wally.

When the speedster had told him that they could make up by kissing, he'd felt a surge of emotion. Mostly excitement and hope, but also disbelief. He thought for sure it had to be a dream, because it wouldn't have been the first time he'd imagined Wally saying that to him, although the context usually wasn't after a fight.

But because Wally didn't know about his crush, he had to pretend to be shocked and confused, so he'd called the older teen out on it.

It had been painful to realize that the freckled boy was just messing with him. Anger and sadness hit him hard, along with an immense sense of panic. What if the redhead did know how he'd felt? He thought he was hiding it so well, too!

Robin had to fight down the crushing grief when he began to think that Wally was simply trying to be mean spirited: if he did know about the brunette's crush, about his fear and stress over his sexual identity and feelings for his best friend, then his jokes and mind games were just plain cruel.

Despite the voice in his head that told him repeatedly that Wally wasn't _that_ kind of person, he stillfelt like he'd bit off more than he could chew with the confrontation, and prepared to storm off to his room so he could sulk and mull over it in private, what he didn't expect was for the other boy to stop him.

Before he even knew what was happening, Wally had slammed the door inches away from his face, standing _way too close_ , and it made him catch his breath, which he hoped KF hadn't noticed. He was frozen. He knew what was coming but he couldn't react. Partially because he was so shocked that Wally was actually being serious, but also because, as previously mentioned, he'd wanted it for so long.

The kiss was... _indescribable_.

He'd heard from kids at school and whatnot what kissing was supposed to be like, but he guessed that experiencing it for yourself really couldn't compare to second hand knowledge. Even now, hours later, thinking about it still made his lips tingle, and remembering what it had led to seemed to set his body alight, sent a warm, tingling sensation through him.

Robin hadn't meant to kiss Wally back, really, it had sort of been instinctual. The scent of the redhead (cologne, oddly enough, which he suspected belonged to the teen's father or uncle) had a pleasantly dizzying effect.

...Or maybe it was from lack of oxygen.

The feeling of Wally's hands on him had been even more unexpected. Considering that it had been his first ever kiss, he sure as heck hadn't done anything even remotely physical with another person in _that_ way. Not unless you included getting beaten up by bad guys, or, regrettably, once _felt up_ by a pervy psycho as he handcuffed him a while back.

Remembering last night made him feel hot all over, and not just from embarrassment.

Seeing the look in Wally's eyes as he'd pinned him up against the bedroom door, kissing him and touching him all over, as shocking as that was, had made his mouth go dry.

It sure as hell didn't take _Google_ to figure out what had happened that time.

Despite his busy night life as a vigilante, Robin was definitely no stranger to the frustrations of getting older. He might have still been young, but he wasn't _that_ naïve.

He knew about sex, obviously - maybe not all of the intimate details of it, because _ew!_ was all his eleven-year-old self thought when he first found out what it was - but he knew how it worked at the very least, and the purpose that it served.

Okay, so he and Wally hadn't actually _had_ sex; at least he didn't _think_ what they had done counted, but something close to it had occurred. The fresh memories sent a flush of arousal through him, much to his chagrin. Crush on his best buddy aside, he was left completely baffled by the events. Why had Wally _done_ that, and... why hadn't Robin tried to _stop_ him? It wasn't like he couldn't have easily judo-thrown the redhead across the room to make his feelings clear, but the thought never even occurred to him at the time.

Maybe if he'd been lucky enough to fall head over heels for some pretty actress or weather woman he'd spotted on TV it wouldn't be so bad, at least they wouldn't know who he was. But how could he look Wally in the eye again after what had happened?

Where did they even stand?

He was pretty sure that even if Wally _did_ like guys the same way he liked girls, he didn't have real feelings for Robin. If he had, surely the brunette would have noticed. He _was_ a detective, after all. A self proclaimed detective, but one nonetheless. The thought that the redhead was aware of his crush and instead of mocking him for it, he had given him the kiss out of _pity..._ well, that was even worse than the idea of getting blatantly rejected.

Humiliation of what had happened aside, he didn't want to think that his first time kissing someone else, and his first time doing something even remotely sexual with another person, was done simply because his teammate felt _sorry_ for him.

The idea made him cringe.

It was that which kept him awake all night - he hated not knowing Wally's motivation behind everything, his thoughts and feelings on it.

Robin only came to a certain realization over a quiet breakfast by himself (thanking whatever deity was up there that no one else was awake) that Wally was his _best friend_. He wasn't a criminal or a suspect that needed to be interrogated or investigated.

Why spend so much time losing sleep over this when he could do things the simple way?

It would be difficult, putting all his cards on the table, but at least he would get some answers if he simply said: W _ally we need to talk. I like you, and I have for a long time, but what was all that about last night anyways?_

Whether it had been an impulse or simple frustration combined with adrenaline or possibly (hopefully) feeling something back, he needed to know the answer. The last thing he wanted was a relapse in his sleeplessness. Not only was it unhealthy, but it would be bad for the team on missions if he couldn't focus.

Swallowing down the last of his orange juice, the acrobat took a deep breath and stood, before heading off to find Wally.

* * *

Robin stood anxiously in front of his best friend's door, hesitating.

This felt extremely familiar.

Doing his best to stay calm, he tapped on the door, and waited. No answer. He was probably still asleep, and the brunette told himself to just go back to his room until it was a decent hour.

Instead, he sighed and looked around nervously for a moment, then then brought up his holo-computer and disabled the locks on the door, causing it to slide open. When no one yelled at him, he slowly began to poke his head through, "Wally...?"

No answer.

Feeling a bit concerned, he stepped into the room, and immediately relaxed, seeing a familiar tussle of reddish-orange hair sticking up from under a blanket. It shouldn't have surprised him that the other boy was still fast asleep, considering he himself was an early riser...

A bird in more than just name.

He was about to turn and leave, figuring he could spend a couple of hours going over other ways he could talk to the older teenager, when he heard a sleepy voice that made him freeze.

 _"...Robin..."_

Whirling around, the brunette opened his mouth, prepared to blurt out an explanation as to why exactly he was standing in his best friend's room while he was asleep and without permission, but paused, noticing Wally's eyes were still shut, and he seemed to simply snuggle more into his blankets and sigh.

"Wally?"

The redhead mumbled something that sounded like "hmm?".

So was he only half awake, then? Or did the speedster just happen to be a sleep talker?

Deciding to test that theory, he decided to ask him a question. It was probably stupid; there was little evidence to prove that sleep talkers were being truthful, considering some of the nonsense people could spout out in unconscious or semi-conscious states, but he figured it couldn't hurt to try.

"When is your birthday?"

The teenager rolled over onto his back, grumbling, and he at first thought that Wally wouldn't answer, until he arched his back, stretching in his sleep, and muttered, _"'In January, duh..."_

Yeah, he was definitely still asleep.

Had he been awake Wally would have been upset at the thought of his best friend forgetting something so important; which of course he hadn't.

Biting his lower lip, a habit of his usually reserved for when he was alone, he tried to come up with something less obvious, and the team came to mind, the close bonds they all shared, "Who are you closest to?"

This time, Wally's response wasn't delayed, _"Uncle Barry..."_ he chuckled, tucking a pillow under his chin, _"He's the best."_

Robin frowned. Okay, maybe that one was a little too vague, "I mean on the team," he pressed.

 _"Mmm... **I'm** on the team..."_

Now he wanted to facepalm, this was a really dumb idea, but it was also kind of amusing, so he continued. "I know that, KF. But how do you feel about the team?"

The soft, dreamy smile that appeared on Wally's face was kind of adorable, _"Friends._ _Feels...at home. Safe._ _Happy. Not alone. Love the team..."_ he sighed. The reply made Robin's heart swell slightly, and he started to feel guilty. Was this an invasion of the redhead's privacy? Like hacking someone's computer or reading their diary?

Did people still even _have_ diaries anymore?

Whatever.

In spite of feeling bad for this now, he couldn't resist the urge to ask, "What about Robin?" He asked softly, inching closer, "How...how do you feel about him?" He chest tightened, waiting.

 _"...My best friend."_

The brunette shut his eyes, a completely expected and disappointingly platonic answer. It made him ball his fists at his sides, not out of anger, but sadness. The truth hurt more than he cared to admit, but it was something that he could probably live with.

 _"Robin's kind,"_ He heard Wally speak up suddenly, his voice so quiet he thought it was imaginary at first, _"Good._ _Annoying sometimes, but brave_ _and loyal. He's really pretty,"_ the younger boy's breath caught in his throat upon hearing that, _"Not to mention_ _smart... if not a bit gullible."_

His eyes snapped open, and he noticed Wally - _definitely_ awake right now - was sitting up slightly, looking right at Robin.

Dread filled him.

Wally was pretending the whole time? He knew what he was doing? _Oh God_ , that meant he had to know for sure now, if he hadn't already. He could feel his face go pale, his fists started shaking beside him, "You were awake...?" he asked, his voice more choked than he cared to realize.

The redhead seemed to see right through him, something that he had always hated, because Wally sat up completely this time and shook his head, rubbing the sleeps from his eyes, "I started to come to 'bout a minute ago. Kept my eyes shut and tried to figure out what the heck was going on. I do that whenever I realize I've been sleep talking to people."

"Oh."

What else could he say? He hadn't felt this close to having a panic attack in years, and the last thing he wanted to do was either start hyperventilating or break down in tears in front of his crush. "I-I should go..."

The speedster cocked his head, "Why?" He asked, puzzled. "I mean, yeah, it was kind of a dick move to try an' interrogate me while I was asleep," the younger boy flinched at that, "But I'm not _mad_. If it were the other way around I probably would have done the same thing." He grinned, teasingly, "Find out all your dirty little secrets."

Despite himself, Robin couldn't help but chuckle quietly, removing some of the tension from his shoulders, "In your dreams, West."

"Are you here to talk about last night?"

His stomach dropped, and Robin ran a hand through his hair, sighing, "I-I..." he took a deep breath, "I really don't know _what_ I'm doing here, to be honest."

Frowning, Wally proceeded to slide over on the bed, making room at the edge, and patted the spot, "Sit down then, let's talk." The ginger said, uncharacteristically serious, "And quit staring at me like I'm about to punch you or something, I know things must be kind of weird, but I don't _want_ them to be."

The earnesty in his voice was what prompted Robin to reluctantly sit down next to his friend, and Wally put a hand on his thigh, causing him to flush slightly, a fact that didn't go unnoticed by the speedster.

"Sorry," he moved away slightly, mistaking his blush for one of discomfort, and the ninja instantly missed the warmth that radiated off of the him. He was still in his pyjamas and it was kind of chilly. "Look, Robin, about last night... I'm just gonna come out and say a few things, alright? Then you can decide what you want to say, if anything. Does that sound okay?"

Thinking about it for a moment, the raven-haired boy nodded slightly.

It seemed reasonable enough. At least then he could consider what Wally was saying and choose his own replies carefully.

"This kiss was real," he began, giving Robin a sideways smile, "And yeah, I was kinda pissed at you last night, and maybe manipulating you into feeling guilty enough that you'd let me plant one on you was kind of wrong... But I didn't _plan_ it or anything, I just asked on a whim. Not because I was trying to make you uncomfortable, but I guess because I just _wanted_ to do it."

Surprise was the most dominant emotion he felt, but the brunette soon relaxed. He _knew_ Wally wasn't mean enough to go out of his way to hurt him, it wasn't who he was, so that was one worry gone. He'd kissed Robin because he felt like it, not because he wanted to make fun of him.

"As for the second thing, I mean what happened after..." Wally at least had the decency to look slightly embarrassed this time around, which made Robin feel less humiliated about it, "Totally unexpected also. I guess I didn't expect to actually kiss you anymore than you did, but once I had..."

He waited, nervously.

"I...I just lost control, I don't know. That happens sometimes. I mean, not with anyone as good looking as you, but-" the speedster seemed to realize what he said, because his cheeks flushed slightly, "I mean, you're my best pal, Robin! I really don't want things to be weird between us. Just because you're a great kisser it doesn't excuse that I pretty much humped you against my bedroom door."

Robin's face turned bright red at that, and Wally backtracked, "Okay, this _so_ isn't coming out right. What I really mean is - I wasn't used to kinda liking someone that I was actually friends with, you know? So I figured I could get away with a little kiss and that would be that, but it didn't happen that way..." he sighed, looking conflicted.

The Boy Wonder, on the other hand, was stunned, "What do you mean by 'kinda like'?" he blurted out, staring at his companion.

He couldn't be saying that he actually might feel the same way, could he?

Sighing again, Wally ran a hand over his face, and suddenly flopped down on the bed, on his back, pulling Robin down with him (which made him yelp, though he'd never admit it), their legs dangling off the side.

"I don't know, to be honest." He admitted, and Robin felt himself deflate slightly. "Hard as it might be to believe, I've never dated anyone. Not really. There was this one girl, but that was it, except... I mean - hookups don't count, right?" At the blank stare he recieved in response, he continued, "Never mind. What I'm saying is that I never did anything like what we did last night with someone I actually..." Wally struggled for a moment, " _Care_ about."

"I like you." The raven-haired teen confessed all of a sudden, and it was Wally's turn to look shocked, "I mean I _like you_ , like you, and I needed you to know, because despite everything, we're best friends and I don't know what I'd do if we weren't anymore. Please don't hate me."

It came off sounding desperate.

As a general rule, Robin _despised_ feeling _vulnerable_.

It was something that had not only been instilled in him by Batman - that showing weakness meant that people could take advantage of you - but something that he had also learned on his own over time. Especially during his brief time at the Gotham City Juvenile Detention Center, where he had to stay while Bruce made the arrangements for him to legally become his guardian. It would have taken longer had his Uncle Rick, crippled and hospitalized, not signed over his rights as Richard Grayson's last living relative to the billionaire. But that place still taught him not to let yourself get caught off guard or you were liable to end up getting curbstomped.

Everything Wally was saying was making his head spin. At this point he didn't know if the other teen liked him back or not, because he never really answered that, all he knew was that Wally's super speed seemed to make him impulsive. Unless he had ADD before his powers, which might have explained the sudden, unplanned kiss. But also, he knew the ginger found him attractive, which, while pleasing, still left him with a ton of questions.

Wally was staring at him, his emotions and thoughts completely hidden by a poker face.

And wow, that was almost as good as Batman's. _Almost_. It made him wonder where Kid Flash had learned how to conceal his expression so well.

Just as he was considering begging for his friend to _say something_ , Wally sighed, sounding almost sad, "I...I guess it's not really a surprise. It explains why you didn't beat the shit out of me last night for shoving you up against the door." He muttered, and shifted, "Look, Rob-" he liked that nickname. Everyone called him Robin, or sometimes "Bird", but he liked the thought that this was something just Wally referred to him as, "I like you too, but..."

Robin somehow managed to ask, hearing his own pulse pounding in his eardrums, "But?"

"I don't think we should date."

Before he could decide whether he should run from the room, he felt fingers gently curl around his wrist, and looked back at Wally, who had an unspeakably sad expression. "Please don't leave. It's got _nothing_ to do with you specifically, I promise. I just..." He huffed out a breath, looking frustrated, pained, "I'm a fuck-up, Robin. It's what I do best, besides the whole speed thing. As great as I think we could be together, it seems like a bad idea. What if we fought and broke up and ended up hating each other? I don't want to lose you because I'm scared that I'll suck at relationships."

"Wally... You're not a... _that_." The brunette tried to protest, despite the good point about their friendship being enough to give him pause. It made sense, and that bothered him, because it felt like the only thing standing in their way.

The redhead, to Robin's surprise, suddenly moved closer, his head resting on the younger boy's shoulder, and if it were any other moment he would have been thrilled, but the sheer melancholy in the room didn't allow it. "I am, Rob. Really. I might have my speed, but... I still somehow manage to always screw things up. Remember what I told you about how I got my powers?"

He nodded, almost mechanically.

Robin remembered clearly, at the time thinking how crazy it was that the older teen had recreated an extremely dangerous accident that could have killed him, just to force his uncle's hand and make him take Wally on as an apprentice.

"It didn't go exactly as planned..." The redhead mumbled, "Obviously it worked to a degree. But there's a _reason_ I'm not as fast as Uncle Barry."

"Your age?" He was pretty new to it still, but the Flash had _years_ of experience on Wally.

Tilting his head slightly, the speedster replied, "It's _possible_ , I guess. But I'm not so sure. I think it's more likely that I messed up, somehow. That I didn't get the formula right... When I did the experiment, I kind of..." he seemed hesitant now, "I sort of blew up my parents' garage." He chucked wryly at the look of disbelief on his friend's face, seeing the boy pale at his words. "The only reason Uncle B agreed to be my mentor was because he felt bad that my own stupidity put me in the Intensive Care Unit."

"In the- _Oh my God_ ," Robin sat up, and he was staring at his friend, legitimately horrified at this new information. He had no idea of the exact mechanics behind how Flash got his powers, just that science and lightning had been involved in the lab accident. But the gravity of what Wally was saying hit him hard. It meant that the redhead had _intentionally_ put himself in harms way by dousing himself with dangerous, electrified chemicals, without knowing what they'd do. "Why would you...?"

Wally squeezed his hand, comfortingly, "Because the Flash was my hero. Both of them were. I was over the moon when I found out my aunt was married to one of them. Beyond excited. Barry could tell I was disappointed when he turned me down as his sidekick - for my safety, he said - and so I managed to convince him to tell me the whole story, including everything he knew about the incident. I even stole his notes he'd written while trying to figure it out for himself. I wanted to be a hero just like him."

"That is completely idiotic." Was all the Boy Wonder managed to say, thinking of how sheer luck was the only reason they actually knew each other, that they were friends at all, because that "experiment" could have just as easily killed the redhead.

Sitting up, the speedster grinned, "But it's also kind of awesome, isn't it?"

He laughed softly, despite himself, "Okay, I guess it _is_ pretty cool." He wasn't sure he'd have been able to put himself through that, without knowing the consequences, in order to become a hero.

Becoming serious again all of a sudden, Wally looked directly at him, "So, you understand what I'm saying, right? About before?"

Robin understood, as much as he truly hated to admit it, he got what the redhead was telling him. He didn't want to risk ruining their friendship over them having feelings for each other. A relationship, one that might not even last, wouldn't be worth what they could lose in the end.

Not only that, but what if one of them died? It was a bleak thought, yes, but one that was obvious. Superheroes lived dangerous lives. Having a stable relationship would be hard enough (he sort of got why his adoptive father was ever a bachelor, aside from just maintaining his persona), but having one with someone on your same team?

If that didn't scream _danger,_ he didn't know what did.

They couldn't risk distractions, or screwing things up or really _anything..._

"So I guess it's better if we just pretend last night never happened, then?" He asked, glumly.

Wally seemed concerned, now, "You sound disappointed by that..."

Yeah, he was.

"Not really. It's just that... I'd never been kissed by anyone before, you know."

Why the hell did he _say_ that? It felt important, but the way Wally's head shot up, and how he looked at Robin with a stricken and vaguely horrified expression, made him regret it sincerely. He just wanted him to know, but clearly the other boy wasn't going to take it well.

"You never... _Fuck_." He swore, and suddenly Robin was being pulled into the redhead's arms, pressed against his chest, and his cheeks heated up slightly, because it was _definitely_ more intimate than a "just friends" hug.

"I'm so sorry - I didn't know, Rob, I swear. I never would have... Why didn't you _stop_ me?" Wally looked down at him, sternly, and the surprises just never seemed to end this week. "Your first kiss is supposed to be _special_. Memorable. I just... You could have told me no!" he sounded angrier with himself than he did with the brunette.

That was confusing.

Oh, it had been memorable, all right, he would _never_ forget it. "But Wally.. it _was_ special," he said stubbornly, leaning back so he could gaze up at his friend, "Because I had it with _you_."

The redhead's deep green eyes softened with equal parts sadness and affection, and unable to help it, Robin found himself looking longingly at the other boy's lips, not that he could tell, what with his sunglasses on. It seemed like the speedster had the same idea, though, because he was leaning down towards him then.

Robin met Wally's lips halfway this time. The redhead cupped his face with one hand as they moved together in a soft, slow kiss, that was just as electrifying as the first one.

This "ignoring their feelings" thing _definitely_ wouldn't be easy.

* * *

 **This is a quick paced story so far, I'm well aware, but I don't plan to write in detail the stuff you've already seen on the show. This is more of the things that happen between on-screen missions - how the characters feel, and react around one another, than it is about me describing episodes. Besides, any fic featuring a speedster is bound to move _fast_. **

**For those of you wondering, since it won't be brought up a ton, Robin is demisexual in this story. If you don't know what it means, a quick Google search can tell you, but here's the gist of it: Demisexuals fall into an almost asexual or aromantic scale. They rarely care about physical features even if they notice the aesthetic quality of them. They generally only feel attraction to someone whom they've already developed a close, personal connection with, such as in formerly platonic friendships. They fall for who the person is on the _inside_ and the desire for them comes later.**

 **Also, being a thirteen year old, I'm sure that as mature as Robin tends to act, he still has moments where he's just like any other kid (such as pointing and laughing at Superboy getting his ass kicked by Black Canary, even though it was childish). I'm hoping I'll grow into him and Wally over time, but I'm trying to convey his youth without making him seem naïve.**

 **if you're curious about Wally's low self image and his strange behaviour in this, then chapter 13 elaborates on it. Be sure to let me know what you think so far!**


	3. Monkeying Around

**All My Friends Are Superheroes**

 **Summary** : Being a teenaged hero is no walk in the park; juggling school, homework, superpowers, friends and family can be tough, especially when you and your secret boyfriend are tiptoeing around teammates, parents and mentors. However, sometimes in life you have to just stop worrying, and let the stones fall where they may. It might not be that bad, after all. Season 1. AU/OOC. Birdflash.

 **Point Of View** : Third person's POV, set in past tense/story format, with dreams/thoughts italicized. The focus will mainly be on Robin and Kid Flash, of course, but I fully plan to further explore their interactions with the team, and also with their JLA mentors. Story starts after the team has been established, right after the end of their first official mission together.

* * *

 _"Imagine if we had no secrets, no respite from the truth. What if everything was laid bare the moment we introduced ourselves?" - Catherine Doyle_

* * *

It had been a little over a week since Robin went to Wally's room to talk to the speedster, for the second time, and they'd ended up sharing another kiss. It had been a lot slower, and a lot less one-sided. Afterwards, the redhead had looked at his brunette best friend and suggested, softly, that they should just "go with it." He hadn't liked the idea at first.

Normally, that wasn't how Robin operated.

As Batman's protégé he had learned to _always_ be prepared for _everything_. That even your backup plan should have a backup plan. Expect the unexpected, and all that jazz. He hadn't anticipated falling hard and fast for his closest companion, and the idea of just "winging" something as important as their friendship was...difficult.

But when Wally had shot him his now-trademark thousand watt smile and put an arm around his waist, he'd felt compelled to agree. Because, worst case scenario, they found themselves incompatible romantically.

It didn't mean they couldn't still be friends.

He'd decided the moment he had left the ginger's room that no matter what happened, it wouldn't ruin the bond between them. If nothing came of their feelings, then so be it, but he wouldn't lose his best friend in the process. After that decision had been made, he'd gone off feeling far lighter than the previous day, a weight lifted from his shoulders.

Despite not further talking about things, all week long Wally had been giving him little flirty smiles, and he was closely watching him, even when he thought Robin wasn't aware. But the Dark Knight's apprentice was _always_ aware, and when he noticed, instead of feeling bothered or confused, it honestly made him uncharacteristically giddy.

It meant that the freckle-faced boy was paying as much attention to him as he did to Wally.

That was a good sign, right?

* * *

Later that same evening, Robin and the others were splitting into groups as per Batman's plan to take Professor Ivo's android to S.T.A.R. Labs to be analyzed. It was a pretty good strategy, really, and he'd never question an idea of his mentor without a good reason, but he still had a gut feeling that they were overlooking something important... something obvious. He couldn't figure out what it was, though.

Whatever, it was likely nothing.

He was just chatting with Superboy on their way when he started getting the feeling that something was up with him.

For one, he'd been acting angrier than usual ever since he returned from Metropolis, so the Boy Wonder could only assume that it hadn't gone well, despite having heard on the news how he and Superman had saved a school bus full of children together from going over the side of a bridge.

Rather than press the issue, he decided to focus on the mission, figuring he didn't yet know Superboy well enough for the clone to come to him with his problems. If it was personal, he wouldn't pry, and unless it caused any distractions from the job they were assigned, he had no business getting involved anyways.

The two fell into a comfortable silence...

Until the truck they were tailing was attacked by flying robot monkeys with maniacal laughs and laserbolt eyes, which really shouldn't have surprised him at all, considering they were transporting a disassembled robot with the power to mimic human and non-human abilities alike.

They were kind of adorable in a freaky sci-fi sort of way.

He tried to get Superboy to listen to him and get ready to battle, but the other dark-haired boy simply shrugged off his suggestion and chose to jump onto the back of the truck, nearly causing his abandoned motorcycle to crash into Robin, which was about as much fun as it sounded.

Robin took out a fair amount of the monkey robots with his eskrima fighting sticks, but they still couldn't stop the Wizard of Oz rejects from stealing the android parts and flying away with them.

It was frustrating, especially when Superboy decided to take off after them all on his own.

However, he got an idea while listening to the other team members bicker over their communicators. Plugging a cable into a monkey that hadn't been destroyed in the fight into his computer, the one built into his glove, he learned that the android parts had GPS, which was exactly how they knew which trucks to go after.

That was the obvious thing they'd overlooked!

From there on, it was pretty easy to locate Ivo and the "Amazo" as they later learned the machine was called.

When he found out that the parts were heading for Gotham City, his determination only tripled. That place had a lot of memories for him. It had become his home after being adopted, and he knew that Batman loved it too, so he wasn't about to watch it get trashed.

It didn't take KF long to catch up with him, and Robin grinned a little when he noticed the other boy had also shed his civilian clothing in favor of his alter ego costume, "You changed too, huh?"

"Are you kidding? I feel naked in civvies." Wally shuddered slightly.

And, yeah, the darker-haired boy _so_ didn't need the distraction that _that_ particular mental image provided at the moment. Because it was definitely hard not to let his imagination start to run wild when he heard that. Although he did sort of echo the statement - being in his uniform just felt... _right_.

* * *

They arrived before Gotham Academy could be completely destroyed, but it was a tough battle.

Getting tossed around like a sack of potatoes certainly left something to be desired - he could already feel the bruises that would later appear. But, on the bright side, he might get to start school a little later considering a giant evil robot had messed it up pretty good, and it would need to be repaired.

A spike of panic shot through him when he saw the Amazo pick up Kid Flash and squeeze him, considering the thing had access to _Superman's_ strength, and he had no desire to see his best friend get either crushed or folded into a speedster pretzel. But before he could do anything, an arrow zipping right through it and embedding itself into the gymnasium floor inches from where Robin was managed to distract the robot briefly.

Not that it did much good.

Robin was on the ground, wracking his mind for a way to stop the android, when he heard Ivo's voice speak up, "Oh, yawn. Normally Amazo would study and mimic your abilities during battle, but what's the point? You're all such poor copies of the originals."

He gritted his teeth at the nonchalant insult, face burning with indignation, but Superboy's reaction was...a little more extreme.

"So everyone keeps saying," The Kryptonian clone muttered, getting to his feet on the bleachers, "It makes me _ANGRY!_ " He leapt through the air and launched himself across the room at Ivo and his monkey-bots, causing them to scatter in a panic.

"WANNA SEE ME CHANNEL THAT ANGER?!"

Next to him, KF blurted out, "Oh great, he's gone ballistic again!"

Robin figured out pretty quickly what Superboy was thinking, though. It hindsight it was kind of brilliant.

In the end, they managed to defeat Amazo by ganging up on him, tricking him into using Martian Manhunter's intangibility mode, and causing it to sort of shut down when Superboy shoved a fist through it's head, making it explode.

Which was a lot cooler than the monkeys, actually.

* * *

 _"Complications come with the job. Your ability to handle them has impressed the League."_

Batman's earlier words made the young teen smile, it was just another reason to love their mentors. They allowed the Young Justice League their screw ups, and let them fix their problems on their own terms. But at the same time, Robin and the others still knew they could turn to the adults if things got too out of hand.

He couldn't help but think, despite the older heroes' individual flaws, how parental it was of them.

Parents raised their kids to be able to stand on their own, after all, ready to step in only if their children needed it, and simply guide them along the way. To him, Batman would always be his father, the person who took him in when he had no one. Sure, there was Uncle Rick, who was definitely still his family, but Bruce had been there for Robin at the darkest point in his life.

For that he would always be grateful.

Maybe this wasn't the life his parents would have chosen for him, but Robin still hoped they would be proud of who he was becoming, both with his team and on his own.

These were the thoughts that ran through his mind as he stood in his bedroom, in front of the full length mirror, wincing and mumbling under his breath as he patched himself up, struggling to wrap a compression bandage around his upper torso. He'd been having slight pain when breathing in, and while a quick X-Ray showed that he didn't actually have any fractures, he'd suffered from a pulmonary contusion, which definitely explained it.

Fortunately, it wasn't so serious that he'd need, say, a ventilator or anything, just to keep hydrated. The bandages were purely an extra step he was taking so he wouldn't hurt himself further in that area. As embarassing as it was, Robin tended to be a restless sleeper, and the last thing he wanted was to land himself in the hospital from _falling out of bed._

His careful concentration, however, was broken when his door was suddenly forced open and Wally zipped in, "Dude, did you see the news? We're-"

"Wally!"

Robin yelped at the speedster's unexpected arrival, which caused the papers to go flying off of his desk and made him drop the bandage. But more importantly, he was freaking out due to the simple fact that he didn't have his face covered, and proceeded to thrust an arm over his eyes and lunge forward blindly, trying to find his sunglasses. "What the hell?!"

However, not being able to see at the moment, he succeeded only in smacking hard right into his bookshelf, sending him tumbling to the ground when it made him lose his balance.

"Shit!" He couldn't see, but it didn't stop him from hearing the ginger curse rather loudly. The sound of a door slamming made him briefly wonder if he'd left, and if it was safe to open his eyes.

No.

A moment later he heard Wally kneel down beside him, "Jeez, I'm sorry, Rob! I didn't mean to scare you." A hand was on his bare shoulder, "Are you okay? You're _covered_ in bruises." He definitely sounded worried. When there was no immediate response from a still extremely tense Robin, the older teen slid his arms underneath the brunette's, and proceeded to pull him to his feet.

"Were you trying to fix yourself up, do you need any help?"

Robin began to relax slightly, clearly his friend hadn't gotten a good look at his face if he wasn't making a big deal out of it. "Y-Yeah, I couldn't really adjust it properly, it kept moving. Can you, um, do you see my shades around? I think I left them on the bookcase."

"What? Oh, sure, just a sec."

Figuring he was approximately in the center of his bedroom, considering the location of his shelves, he manuvered himself backwards until he felt himself bump into his bed, and slowly sat down, arm still covering his face. "How did you even get my door opened? The locks are deactivated by voice."

"Wouldn't you like to know?" A teasing voice replied, and moments later, he felt the familiar cool plastic being slipped into his free hand, "There."

Quickly slipping them on, the Boy Wonder opened his eyes and blinked at the redhead, giving him a small smile, "Thanks. Sorry about that. I just didn't want you to-"

"See your face?" Wally finished, and the speedster smiled slightly at his nod, "Don't worry about it, Rob. I already have."

Immediately, Robin was on high alert, his entire body stiff despite the pain the sudden action caused, " _What?_ "

No way he'd ever slipped up enough that Wally had ever figured it out on his own.

"I said I've already seen your face." The redhead repeated, looking at him seriously. He hesitated for a moment, before putting his hand on the other boy's knee. "Don't worry, it's not like I know your name or anything - and I swear I never peeked! It was an accident... You have really pretty eyes."

Robin was having a minor meltdown in his mind.

Batman was going to _kill him_.

Wait...

The speedster _didn't_ know his name?

How strange. Though after a moment of considering it, the raven-haired teen supposed he shouldn't have been surprised. As far as he knew, Wally had no interest in the news, politics, or anything of the sort. If he had only seen a brief glimpse of Robin's face, then there was a good chance he'd simply never made the connection that he was Dick Grayson, or that Batman was Bruce Wayne.

A bit of a relief, but also slightly disappointing. It wasn't infrequent that the younger boy wished he could tell his friends about himself. He knew all of their identities, but with the knowledge of his civilian name secret, he'd never get to invite them over to his house for a sleepover, or celebrate birthdays with them, share memories of his family like they did...

But it did beg the question as to when he'd been so unaware of his surroundings that Wally had managed to see his face. He _always, always, always_ wore sunglasses when not in uniform, or at home or school.

"Wait," Robin managed, narrowing his eyes slightly, "When did you see my face, exactly?"

For some reason, there was a guilt-laced smile on the ginger's face, "April 1st, 2008."

The Boy Wonder's expression darkened slightly at that. He remembered all too well. It was a few weeks after the two of them had been introduced. Batman and Flash had taken both of their protégés out for a mission - nothing big, just to teach them about scouting their surroundings in Central City. It was pretty early in the evening, the sun hadn't even fully set yet.

Wally had begun to notice his recently turned eleven-year-old friend was a little grumpier than usual, and wondered if it was because he didn't have enough sleep that night. He'd come up with an "amazing" plan to cheer his best buddy up. This included, but was not limited to: The old shaken soda prank (Wally had left a bottle in every outdoor vending machine within a five mile radius), gluing coins to the sidewalk, and best of all - completely covering the Batmobile in rainbow post it notes all before the adults got back.

Batman's expression had been _priceless_ , even hidden by the cowl, he just knew it. It had been hilarious, and despite his shock and stammered apologies for his nephew's behavior, Barry Allen was doing his best not to double over laughing. Even better was the fact that every single of the literally hundreds of notes used had an incredibly lame pun or parody lyrics scrawled on it in a thirteen-year-old's handwriting (i.e. _You give love a bat name_ ).

When that barely got a smile out of Robin, however, the younger speedster took it one step too far in trying to get him in the "pranking spirit".

One rainbow glitter bomb explosion later, and his newest friend was nearly in tears, and had stomped off into a nearby restroom, to clean the confetti off.

Barry had pulled Wally aside to lecture him, albeit rather gently, that some people just didn't _like_ the holiday for a variety of reasons. He especially made sure the ginger knew he should apologize to his friend. Wally quickly agreed and went to do so, but when he couldn't find Robin in the washroom, he'd gone looking for him. He ended up finding him in an alley behind the mall, talking to Batman, and had quickly plastered himself against a brick wall, silent, not wanting to anger the man, because he was pretty sure the guy was already ticked off with him as it was.

The speedster ended up overhearing more than he meant to, however, including peeking around the corner and watching in shock as the Batman pulled a maskless-Robin into a tight hug, stroking his hair and speaking quietly to him. That wasn't all, though, because the spiky-haired boy then spoke up.

 _"I know he was only trying to cheer me up, but I can't be happy on this day. I just can't. Not on the day that I lost everything that mattered, and it hurts. It means something different to me than everyone else, and I hate it."_

Wally had gotten a pretty good view of the younger boy's face - his blue eyes were enchanting. He'd slipped away after that, not liking that he had listened in on what was probably something very personal. He felt _horrible_ about what he'd done to his friend. If he'd known how Robin would have reacted, he never would have done any of the practical jokes; and from then on he never mentioned April Fools day again, even when Robin wasn't around. He stopped pranking people altogether when he realized it could be hurtful.

"I remember," Robin muttered under his breath. That had been the one year anniversary of their murder. Later, he'd been embarrassed by his reaction - Wally was just trying to cheer him and have a good time, after all. He didn't know the date's significance to Robin. But he'd been miserable that day; sad about his family and grumpy from nightmare-induced insomnia.

"Yeah, I, uh, saw you without your mask when you and Bats were talking in the alley." Wally confessed, putting his hand over the younger boy's when he looked at him, "I didn't hear anything, not really, but I saw your face. You seemed upset, and I didn't want to make it worse, so...I left."

The brunette boy was very - uncharacteristically - quiet for a moment, before coming to a decision. He didn't know if it was the right one, but he made it anyways. "What do you know about Bruce Wayne?"

"Huh?" Wally's face scrunched up slightly in confusion at the random question, but he nonetheless decided to answer his friend, figuring he must have had a reason for the sudden inquiry. "Um, not much. I don't pay a whole lot of attention to that stuff. He's the rich business guy on TV, right? The one who gets a lot of chicks?"

Robin resisted the urge to roll his eyes at that, because of course that was the detail the redhead would focus on. "What else?" he prompted.

"Uhhhh... He owns his own company, inherited it from his parents after they got killed by a mugger?" He pressed his lips into a thin line, sympathy appearing on his face, and it made the Boy Wonder smile slightly. His best friend was compassionate, even with people he didn't know (or didn't _think_ he knew, anyways). "He's into philanthropy stuff too, right? Adopted an orphan kid a few years back when-" Realization dawned across the speedster's face.

"...You're Richard Grayson."

 _Phew_. The thirteen-year-old was almost afraid he would have to further spell it out for his, at times, oblivious companion. He felt that this worked sort of as a loophole. He didn't technically tell Wally who he was, just sort of guided him into putting the pieces together.

That excuse would definitely _not_ fly with Bruce, but the young acrobat had no intentions of telling him about this anyway, so it was all good.

"Call me...Dick." He said, hesitantly, when Wally failed to say anything else.

He braced himself for the jokes he'd been sure his friend would make if he ever knew, because by this point that button had been pushed so many times it was broken, and he didn't particularly care what strangers or classmates said anymore. But with friends, it was different.

What he wasn't prepared for was for Wally to suddenly grab him in a tight hug, pressing his face in the brunette's hair, and mutter, "I'm _so_ sorry, Rob."

Repeatedly.

Pulling away, the boy was bewildered to see the redhead's eyes were wet, "What are you sorry for?"

"Everything!" The ginger blurted out, looking horrified. "I never knew who you were, Rob. Or I _never_ would have done any of that shit! The April fools pranks, those stupid 'your mom' jokes when we first met, and... Oh God." He seemed to pale further, "I made you sit through _Disney_ movies with me!" So many of those damn films involved orphans.

 _That_ was why Robin had run off when they were watching the Lion King! He'd been surprised at first, that the ninja would show such human emotion. He had eventually chalked it up to him never having seen it before. Everyone cried during Mufasa's death the first time, but Wally just assumed it was because the boy hadn't yet seen it.

To his shock, Robin started laughing quietly, "You now know who I am, and you're hung up on stuff that happened over _two_ _years_ _ago_."

"Well, yeah, I must have seemed like the world's biggest jerk to you!"

"Not really," The black-haired hero shrugged, giving a tiny smile, "I mean, it's not like you knew what you were doing. There were so many times I wanted to tell you, but Batman..." he trailed off, and sighed.

The redhead's eyes suddenly widened, "Wait, if you're... then... does that mean that Bruce Wayne is-"

"Shhh!" He hissed, "Keep your voice down," Robin scolded, resisting the urge to facepalm for not considering that sooner, "Superboy has _super hearing_." He only hoped that the clone was a heavy sleeper.

"Oh God, Batman's so gonna kill me." Wally seemed more than a little freaked out, probably figuring at this point that the Dark Knight would crush him for knowing both his and his ward's identities.

With a slight grin, Robin bumped the older teen's shoulder with his own, "Don't worry, I'll protect you."

"I feel so much better." The speedster rolled his eyes, before going still, his expression thoughtful. Robin's breathing caught when Wally suddenly slipped a hand under his chin, and he felt a finger curl around the frame of his glasses, "Can I... Do you mind if I take these off?" he whispered.

Despite knowing that there was no harm in it now, the raven-haired teen still felt anxious, but he gave a quick nod anyways, unsure what to say.

It felt weird having someone else tug them off of his face, no matter how gently it was done. A thumb traced under one of his still-closed eyes, causing Robin to slowly open them, peering back into the deep emerald green orbs that were fixed on him.

Wally was staring at him, barely breathing, and it made him nervous.

He squirmed, and eventually asked, "What is it?"

"Nothing," The redhead murmured, so close he could feel air tickling his neck when the older boy exhaled, "You're just really sort of beautiful, y'know that?"

Robin blinked, owlishly, and then a warm blush spread across his cheeks and down his neck. He could feel it, and due to his pale skin he was sure it was very visible too, and the embarassment just made it worse, "You're messing with me." He mumbled.

The speedster gave him that _'are you kidding right now?'_ look, "You keep saying that - I thought we settled this last week, Rob? I'm _not_. I think you're really attractive, actually." He gestured to the other teen's bare torso, "Bruises and all."

Swallowing hard, the younger hero glanced at him with a frown, "...I thought you liked M'gann?"

A chuckle left his friend, "Well, _sort of_ , I guess. I mean she _is_ pretty, but..." a mischievous glint sparkled in his eyes, and before Robin could question it, the other teen pushed him down onto his back, being mindful of his most recent injuries, and suddenly swung a knee over the brunette's legs, so he was straddling his lower body.

"Wally?" he asked, nervously, his voice got a bit higher. What was he _doing?_

"...But I would never think of doing _this_ with Miss Martian." The redhead slowly lowered his head down, and the moment that those lips covered his own, Robin shut his eyes again, surprised by the emotion behind the gesture. He could actually _feel_ Wally's sincerity, his true feelings for the younger teen, and it only then occurred to him that sharing his identity with the older boy probably meant a lot to _him_ too, showing the trust he placed in his best friend.

Good.

Like the last kiss they shared, it was soft, but still somehow different. Like a caress, but more... sensual? _Something._ The raven-haired boy felt heat spread through him as he slowly moved his lips back against the speedster's. He couldn't deny that it was kind of nice, being this close to someone. Being this close to _Wally_. The redhead's tongue slid over his bottom lip, and he let out a small moan when his best friend's unnaturally warm body pressed flush up against him.

In an instant, Wally broke away, leaning backward so their torsos were no longer touching, a concerned look on his face, "Did I hurt you?" He asked, worried he might have aggravated one of the younger teen's bruises.

Robin shook his head, wordlessly, having trouble collecting his thoughts. His mouth was dry, and his heart was racing - he blamed Wally, really, his kisses seemed to do that to him. "I'm okay." He said, a little bit breathlessly, and sat up, surprised when the speedster slid his arms around him, pulling him close.

At the questioning look on his face, Wally told him, "You looked cold. You were shivering."

The Boy Wonder was pretty sure the shivers had nothing to do with being cold, because he certainly didn't feel that way. In fact, it felt as though someone had lit a match inside of him, leaving him hot all over. It wasn't unfamiliar, not around the other teen anyway, it seemed to happen a lot with him.

"What are you thinking about?"

Hands started rubbing soothingly up and down his shoulders, and he relaxed into it, slightly astonished by how _normal_ it felt, despite being kind of weird. He normally disliked most physical contact, but Wally just seemed to be the exception to all of his rules lately.

He glanced down, biting his lip, "Just...things."

Wally's lips brushed against his ear from behind, drawing out a rather undignified squeak from him, "Wouldn't happen to have anything to do with that night in my room, would it?" He was now beginning to trail slow kisses down the younger boy's throat, smiling against the nape of Robin's neck when he felt a shudder go through the boy. "You'll have to be more specific t-than that."

"The night that you came to my room, and I pinned you against the door..." Teeth gently scraped over the shell of his ear, and he bit back a startled gasp. "All the noises you made were so _hot_ ," Robin swallowed hard, as Wally's arms encircled his waist, a hand sliding down over his chest and abdomen, mindful of his injuries, making his heart flutter faster when his friend stopped, fingers resting at the waistband of his boxers, "Do you want me to make you feel even better?"

The sultry sound of Wally's voice came as a small shock. Why did the redhead even _know_ how to be seductive? He wasn't that much older than Robin! Only fifteen, and yet here they were. "I-I don't know," he stammered out.

A half truth, of course.

He did want to, rather badly at that, but there were so many reasons he could think of that they shouldn't. What if they got caught? Was it legal? Weren't they too young to even be doing stuff like this? Wasn't the whole point of "not dating" so they could try to make their feelings go away?

This was _not_ helping.

Not to mention the idea made him a bit...scared, causing his body to tense slightly.

Wally pulled away at his words, and he wasn't sure whether to be disappointed or relieved. "Then we can wait until you _do_ know."

He flashed his usual, charming smile, and suddenly everything was back to normal. "No pressure or anything, Rob. We may have messed around once, but I'm not in the habit of taking advantage of my best friend. We're just rolling with it, right?"

He nodded, they _had_ agreed to that.

"Good. Then for now, I say we make the most of the last few days of summer. Neither of us will be living here once school starts, after all."

Sliding off of the brunette's bed, he yawned while raising his arms up and over his head, "I'll see you in the morning, Bird Boy." He leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to the corner of Robin's mouth, "G'night."

"Goodnight, Wally." Robin smiled.

Even after the speedster disappeared from his room, the young teen was _still_ smiling.

* * *

 **Just a quick author's note about my story. I won't be referencing (at least not very often) the events that happened in the Young Justice Comic Series, meant to accompany the show. The stuff still happened, and don't get me wrong I would LOVE to include bits of it in this fic, but if I focus too much on simply events we know happened instead of telling my own story, it just wouldn't be as much fun.**


	4. Rising Phoenix

**All My Friends Are Superheroes**

 **Summary** : Being a teenaged hero is no walk in the park; juggling school, homework, superpowers, friends and family can be tough, especially when you and your secret boyfriend are tiptoeing around teammates, parents and mentors. However, sometimes in life you have to just stop worrying, and let the stones fall where they may. It might not be that bad, after all. Season 1. AU/OOC. Birdflash.

 **Point Of View** : Third person's POV, set in past tense/story format, with dreams/thoughts italicized. The focus will mainly be on Robin and Kid Flash, of course, but I fully plan to further explore their interactions with the team, and also with their JLA mentors. Story starts after the team has been established, right after the end of their first official mission together.

 **A/N** : This chapter took forever because I started wondering where I wanted to go with it, and then got an idea of - what if Robin was upset and went to see Wally first while he was upset about Bruce and Aqualad before the workout scene? So I made it so that (and the Garrick party) takes place the day after Clayface. Hope no one minds. Next update should be sooner than last now that I have some more ideas! Let me know what you think so far!

* * *

 _"Hope rises like a phoenix_ _from the ashes of shattered dreams." - S. A. Sachs_

* * *

Wally was not a fan of the Young Justice League's newest team member.

She hadn't exactly made a good first impression on him by being a massive bitch from day one, and letting the Shadows' assassin get away only further dampened his opinion of the blonde girl. Yes, he would admit that having an archer on the team would be useful, but there was only one problem.

It wasn't the archer any of them had wanted.

Roy was their friend, someone they trusted unconditionally. He didn't want this Artemis chick coming along with them on missions, he wanted their Speedy - er, _"Red Arrow"_ \- not a replacement, but it looked like that wasn't going to happen anytime soon, unfortunately. So for the time being, they were stuck with her.

What was worse than that, though, was now they were on some baloney mission looking for some "sorcerer", and Robin wasn't even with them.

Of course, he didn't believe in the whole magic bullshit, but Miss Martian did, and everyone believed him to have a huge crush on M'gann, so he had to pretend he bought this crap, if only to keep up the pretense.

Sure, he didn't care if anyone knew that he was bisexual - what was the big deal?

However, it wasn't his place to tell the others about Robin being...whatever he was. The last thing he wanted was for them to find out that the two of them had been messing around the past few weeks.

Heavy late night makeout sessions aside, neither the redhead nor the brunette really knew where they stood.

They weren't a couple, but at the same time they weren't friends with benefits. For one, they'd been keeping things from going to far - meaning no wandering hands south of the equator. It wasn't a bad thing though, not really, because despite the confusion of their relationship, they were still extremely close.

Just in case the younger boy did want to keep it a secret, Wally had to keep up the act. Possibly outing someone, even by accident, would be super uncool. Especially when that someone was his best friend.

Wally didn't know if Robin was gay, or just curious, and he certainly wasn't going to ask. He didn't want to ruin whatever they had between them at the moment, as he was happier this past month than he'd been in the last seven years. Things were tense at the moment, but that was because his rather brilliant jokes about the creepy irony that they were looking for a magician in the town that was infamous for it's prosecution of witches went unappreciated by his teammates.

He really wished that Robin was with them.

* * *

Okay, yeah, he'd kinda fucked up with the whole "pretending-to-believe-in-magic-to-fake-impress-M'gann" thing, and it was starting to seem less impossible for the whole mystic arts idea to be true. He was a speedster with friends that included a space alien, a merman, and a human clone who possessed infrared vision and super strength, after all.

But the redhead was stubborn, and he wasn't going to back down from his beliefs so easily.

Now, having just left some freakin' voodoo elevator in the middle of an invisible and seemingly endless tower, it was getting harder to hand on to his denial of all things non-scientific.

Holding Kent Nelson in his arms while the man died hadn't helped at all.

It infuriated him, actually.

But he didn't know what to do - if he went after Klarion with his speed alone he'd probably end up getting zapped as well, and if all this magic stuff was true, he definitely couldn't let the freak get his hands on Dr. Fate's Helmet.

Feeling the telepathic link Miss Martian had established with him vanish snapped him out of his stupor.

It was kind of fun watching the witch boy get slaughtered by Nabu, but the relief he felt over his friends being okay didn't last long, not when he learned the "Lord of Order" didn't plan to relinquish control over him. The teen immediately felt sick. He was never going to see his family again, or his team, or...or _Robin_.

The last thing he expected was for Nelson to convince Nabu to release him.

While attending the man's funeral later that evening, along with the other members of his team and a good majority of the JLA, he couldn't help but think that maybe it might not be so wrong to believe in what you weren't able to explain.

Not that he'd ever tell Artemis that.

* * *

There was nothing quite like getting your ass handed to you by a mud monster.

Oh, sorry, _clay_.

As if the fact that Batman had to step in on a simple mission and rescue them wasn't embarrassing enough, but Wally knew he'd be trying to get the stuff out of his hair and nails for weeks. Blech. That wasn't the only thing currently bothering him, though.

Wally had passed by Robin while on his way to the showers, and the younger boy seemed...angry.

Not at him, otherwise he would have given him _the look_ , which was always eerily similar to the _Batglare_ , but he was definitely upset about something.

The speedster would have tried asking him about it, but the vibe Robin gave off was clearly not that of someone in the mood for talking. He knew the brunette well enough at this point to know when to leave it alone. If his friend needed a listening ear, he always knew where to find him.

And find him he did, roughly ten minutes later.

It was the sharp pounding on his bedroom door that got his attention, as Wally had been laying in bed, drifting off. He was kind of exhausted, and tempted to just pull a pillow over his head and ignore it, because really, the day had been kind of shitty and he just wanted sleep.

Thank God his parents allowed him to stay on Mount Justice whenever a mission ended really late in the evening. He did have to go home tomorow, though, for Mr. Garrick's birthday. He hoped he could catch up on his sleep enough that he would be in the party mood...

If only whoever was banging would knock it off.

 _"Wally!"_

The sound of his best friend's voice yelling at him in a whisper had him fully awake, and in an instant Wally had leapt off of his bed and was deactivating the electronic locks on the door, allowing the door to slide open, and blinking in surprise at the sight before him.

Robin was standing there in front of him, lightly shaking, hair still damp and hanging in his eyes.

His very visible, very blue eyes.

"What the fu-?" Wally's eyes quickly swept through the halls to check for anyone else there, before he grabbed hold of the brunette's upper arm and yanked him into his room, reactivating the door behind them, making it glide shut with a click. "What are you doing? Where are your shades? Someone could have seen you!"

"No one did." He turned around to see the young teenager sitting on the edge of his bed, head buried in his hands.

Well, alrighty then.

"Hey," the ginger moved so he was sitting beside his friend, putting a hand on his shoulder, "You okay? Need to talk about something?"

Robin wouldn't look at him, "It's about...Batman. I just-never mind, it's stupid." He muttered, scowling slightly as he thought about leaving the man, as he requested, so he could talk to _just Aqualad_ , "I needed to get my mind off of things, and I didn't know where to go."

Hesitating for a moment, Wally stood abruptly, and the brunette blinked, glancing up just in time to see his friend's form stop blurring, he was now fully dressed. Which was...odd, but a great time saver he supposed. "C'mon, Rob. Let's go outside."

Robin barely had time to question him before he was abruptly being swept off his feet, quite literally, and out of the base.

* * *

"Don't _ever_ do that without warning me first again!" Robin gasped out, bracing himself heavily against the side of the mountain, trying to will himself not to puke. He felt dizzy and sick to his stomach.

How the heck Wally could stand such high velocity all the time was beyond him.

"I'm sorry," The redhead somehow managed to sound sincere all while surpressing a grin, manuvering his arm around the brunette's waist to help lower him to the ground, "I forgot how disorienting it can be the first few times."

" _Last time._ "

Wally chuckled, "Whatever..." He blinked when Robin rested his head against the older boy's shoulder, looking up into those deep green eyes. "Why did you bring me here, anyway?"

"You said-"

"No," He cut him off, "I mean, why _here_ specifically?" He gestured around them.

"Privacy." At the curious look he recieved, the speedster smiled, "I did some exploring while alone once. Here's pretty much the only place on the mountain where there is a blind spot to the League's crazy surveillance system. I come here to be alone sometimes. Just... look at the stars, Dick."

It was slightly unnerving to hear his best friend refer to him by his real name (and not in an insulting way like he would before he knew), but at the same time... he sort of liked it. "Stars?"

Wally pointed up at the sky, wordlessly.

From where the two teens were nestled into a hidden nook of the mountainside, two rocky walls beside and one behind them, they had an almost five foot long gap where they could look out. They weren't quite at the peak, but from this position, it was very easy to see the star-speckled night above them, shining brightly.

For a moment, he was too mesmerized to speak.

"It's beautiful..." Robin whispered, awe in his voice at the tapestry of dark blue and silver. You couldn't see the sky like this in Gotham. Even when it was the middle of the night, the starlight was blocked out by the bright traffic lights and neon signs and other such things. Ignoring that it was perpetually gloomy in the city. But Happy Harbour, or just outside of it, where Mount Justice was located, was much smaller and quieter than his home.

Peaceful.

When Wally failed to say anything further, the young teen glanced to his side, and saw the fifteen-year-old staring straight ahead, his eyes were shining with excitement, lips parted just slightly, like he was so focused on the stars that he was barely breathing, "You have a thing for astronomy?"

The redhead gave a slight shrug, pulling his attention from the sky to focus on his companion, "I guess you could say that. I really like the constellations."

"Really?" That came as a slight surprise to Robin, he didn't think his friend would be into that sort of stuff. Seemed like they were learning new things about each other everyday. "What's your favorite?"

Grinning, the speedster proceeded to grab the brunette's hand, which sent a flutter through him, and intertwine their fingers, using their joined limbs to point upward. He squinted for a moment, not being able to tell any of them apart, but managed to make out what appeared to be eight stars - though those were just the ones he could _see_ \- in a peculiar pattern.

"The Phoenix." Wally told him softly, as their arms fell back to the ground. He didn't let go of Robin's hand, and the raven-haired boy didn't point it out, not really wanting him to, anyways. "Named after the one in Ancient Greek lore."

At the curious expression on his friend's face, the redhead blushed, "Okay, I _might_ have a thing for mythology too..."

"So, what's the story behind it?" He asked, much to Wally's surprise. The thirteen-year-old wasn't about to make his best friend feel bad for his interests, and he was honestly curious, wanting to know more about the speedster. Just because Robin knew more about Wally West than Wally knew about Dick Grayson, didn't mean he knew a _lot_ about him.

Seeing the ginger's bright green eyes light up made him smile, "Well, there are different points of origin. Some say Greece, others say the story was derived from Bennu - that's the bird God of sun and rebirth in Ancient Egypt, but uh... Okay, let me think." He fell silent for a moment, going over what he knew about the myths in his head.

"Basically, the Phoenix is also bird. A _very_ special sun bird that lives a really long time. It's supposed to be the most beautiful bird ever! Like a badass rooster, but with sapphire eyes and scaly golden legs, and peacock-like feathers, except yellow and red instead of blue or green. It's got, like, this feather crown on its head, which probably makes it royalty. And...and, um, when it eventually does die, it's like a giant firework show - all flames and combustion. _Boom!_ " Robin jumped at the sound effect, making him laugh, "The legendary Phoenix obtains a new life by being reborn, arising from the ashes of the old one. That's where the saying comes from... Meaning it's never really dead, in a way, 'cause it always comes back in the end."

By the time Wally was trailing off, Robin found himself paying very close attention, the redhead was grinning widely and his face was so _alive_ , talking animatedly in a way he'd only seen when they were getting ready for a mission. Normally someone would tell him to shut up when he started babbling, but the ninja couldn't bring himself too, because he seemed so happy at sharing this strange yet fascinating story.

"It does sound pretty cool, I guess." He agreed, when he was sure Wally was finished, "It has to be powerful and all, being able to come back over and over again. Is that why it's your favorite?"

For some reason, his friend seemed to flush suddenly, untangling their hands and looking away, "Uh, no. Not...Not really."

Perplexed by Wally's actions, he sat forward, "Why, then?"

Shifting, the speedster mumbled something under his breath.

He cocked his head to the side, "What was that?"

Sighing, Wally glanced over at him, "Well... I-I suppose it's because it reminds me of you."

Robin stared at him in bewilderment, "Me?"

The older teen's face seemed to redden, "Yeah. The Phoenix is beautiful and special, but... but always alone, you see? There were no others like it, which meant it was unique, but it had to also be sad... not having a family or anything." Seeing the hurt flash across the boy's face, he quickly moved on, "I don't know _why_ it was like that, but it had to be so lonely, being the only one of its kind. So, the way I see it, or at least how I like to pretend it goes, is that when the Phoenix couldn't take being sad and lonely anymore, he burned himself up. But instead of having to die or just be sad forever, it was reborn into something new - and it rose from the ashes as something better than it was before, something that could handle the loneliness in a way that it wouldn't be sad anymore. Like adapting or evolving, I guess. It changed itself in order to survive, but in the end I think it was better off being its new self, because it means it's stronger than ever... You remind me of the Phoenix - not just because you're both birds, but because you both kept flying even though it might have been easier just to give up. When I think of strength, you always come to mind; you don't let all the bad stuff get you down."

Biting his lip, Wally risked a glimpse at Robin's face, and was surprised to see the tears gathering there.

 _Shit._

"I-I'm sorry, Rob." He stuttered out, feeling like a total jerk for bringing up his parents, "I didn't mean to upset you! I just wanted you to know how stro-"

He was cut off by the brunette lunging at him, tackling him to the ground of the small space they were in, so the redhead was on his back with the younger boy on top of him, but instead of punching him in the face like Wally would have expected, Robin gazed down at him with a few teardrops trailing down his cheeks, and smiled, before lowering his head, brushing their lips together.

Wally returned it instantly, eyes sliding shut while lifting his head up to reach the other teen partway, meeting him in a soft kiss, raising one hand to cup the back of Robin's head, the other grasping his friend's hipbone, while the ninja's hands were splayed out on the speedster's chest, bracing himself as their mouths moved together slowly.

It was brief, but still breathtaking, and when the two boys reluctanctly parted for air, faces flushed and wide-eyes locked on each other, they knew they both felt the same thing:

Shocking electricity.

The redhead was only about 87% percent sure it had nothing to do with the static that naturally coursed through his body. This hadn't happened with anyone else, even after getting his powers, only Robin made him feel this way.

As they both began to snap out of their daze, the younger boy suddenly realized the position they were in.

Wally was laying flat on his back, and Robin was straddling his waist, his best friend's heart racing under his palms. He could feel the way it would stutter, like an old truck's engine, stop, and then roar back to life. The brunette might have been concerned if he didn't know that this was actually considered _normal_ for speedsters.

The two of them were still leaning dangerously close to one another. It was rather late and they were totally alone. The flush of excitement that the knowledge seemed to send through his body was startling, and he opened his mouth, trying to think of something to say.

"Wally-" His redheaded companion sat up, not giving him a chance to tell him that they should probably head back inside (even though he _really_ didn't want to) before Wally was crushing his mouth gently against the Boy Wonder's again.

Robin was now sitting in the speedster's lap, legs practically curled around his waist as the other boy held him close, their kiss long, frenzied and lustful, before Wally broke away, and began peppering lighter ones down the raven-haired teen's jaw and neck, making him gasp quietly at the sensations each feathery touch produced.

Wally's lips were soft, and the older boy's fingertips were stroking over the skin of his throat, sending shivers racing up and down his spine. When the kisses became open-mouthed and urgent, he could feel a velvet-like tongue brush across his pulse point, causing it to skip a beat, and the brunette started squirming involuntarily, his cheeks reddening.

" _Oh..._ " He trembled, "Um, W-Wally...?"

The redhead hissed all of a sudden, his now dark green eyes fluttered shut, "Shit, _Robin..."_

He was confused, until he _felt_ it, and realized what his fidgety movements were doing to the other teen, causing his face to flush even more, "S-Sorry... I- _Oh!_ " A whimper tore passed his lips when Wally suddenly rolled his hips up, the friction that followed made his breath catch in his throat, and he felt an arm move to curl around his waist, pulling him closer.

Before Robin even knew what was going on, his whole world tilted, and he found himself sprawled out on the hard ground of the mountain, with his best friend hovering over top of him, his lips brushing the younger boy's ear, breathing raggedly, "How do you do it?"

Another shudder, "What...what do you mean?" He asked, swallowing thickly, the way the older teenager looked at him sent strange, unfamiliar feelings surging through him, and he squeezed his legs together, trying to ignore the heated look the speedster gave him when he pulled away briefly, and what it was doing to him.

"Be so freaking _hot_ without even _trying_..." Wally muttered, his own voice sounded choked as he mouthed at the spot just under Robin's earlobe, surprising both of them when the brunette whined softly, his head thumping back against the dirt, letting out a shuddery breath.

"I-I don't know," Robin stammered as the other teen's lips travelled down to his collarbone, sucking softly, and leaving the brunette's whole body _tingling_ just like that first night, flames of desire tickling at his nerves. "Wally, what are-" He cut himself off, his eyes widening as the redhead suddenly cupped him between the legs, making him let out a sharp, surprised moan.

Wally kept kissing across his friend's throat, licking and nibbling - gentle enough so as not to leave any suspicious marks - palming roughly at the boy's cock, feeling it harden from his touches as the younger teen started to breathe more heavily, wriggling underneath him, his blue eyes so dark that they looked nearly black, "A-Ah..hah... nnnngh..." His face and neck turned a deep shade of scarlet when he heard the embarrassing noises he made.

It was _really_ hot.

He'd expected the young bird to protest by now, or shove him off, which he no doubt could have done easily. But then again, what with how mature Robin was, it was sometimes easy to forget that he _was_ still just a _teenager_ , of course he was enjoying himself, Wally was too.

" _Ahh! Wally...!_ " Robin choked out when the older boy slid a hand down the front of his pants and into his underwear, licking at his suddenly dry lips as he took the raven-haired boy's erection in one hand, still kneeling between his legs, and began stroking slowly, smiling as his friend unconsciously arched his hips into the touch.

The young teen was panting and squirming, balling his hands into fists at his sides, heat spreading through his entire body, coiling up in his stomach. He felt like he could barely breathe, everything was _buzzing_ with this raw _energy_ and he felt so _warm_ despite being out in the cool, breezy air.

He felt the redhead tugging his pants down further, and opened his eyes, the intense look on Wally's face surprised him, so did the desire that flickered in the depths of his green orbs. The speedster noticed, and grinned slightly, lifting his free hand up to his face, and slowly dragging his tongue over the palm and up his fingers.

For some reason, Robin found himself unable to look away, swallowing hard.

The moment Wally wrapped his other hand - now slick with his saliva - around the head of the brunette's cock and concentrated _hard_ , Robin jerked forward with a cry at the vibrations that shot through him as the older boy continued stroking, the friction making him whimper and press his lips together in a feeble attempt to silence himself.

It was all actually pretty exciting to the Metahuman. Because it wasn't as though he'd _been_ with anyone else that knew about his speed, and ever since he and Robin had decided to just wing it, he'd had some... _ideas_ , on how to use his powers more creatively.

He couldn't believe that this was actually happening right now, though.

Robin was underneath him, flushed and gasping out his name as Wally's hands stroked over every inch of him, gradually speeding up his pumps, rubbing his thumb over the slit and watching in fascinated arousal as the younger boy dug his nails into the ground, needing _something_ to hold on to, biting at his lips as a strained look crossed his face, and making a noise he _definitely_ wouldn't be proud of later.

"Nnnngh... Oh God, _Wally-_ " Robin cut himself off with a near-sob as his climax hit him hard, pleasure ripping through his small body.

It was probably the single most erotic sight Wally had ever seen, and he was surprised he didn't come from the sounds his friend was making alone.

Looking at the mess of his hands, Wally shrugged and wiped them on the ground, watching with interest as the younger teen gasped for air on the ground, his cheeks an adorable shade of red. As soon as he recovered enough, Robin's senses seemed to return to him, realizing where they were.

"I-I can't believe that just _happened_ ," Robin's voice was a little lower than normal. Husky. It was weird... But, then again - the brunette was way sexier than a thirteen year old boy had _any right_ being.

A smirk tugged at his lips before he could help it, "I didn't hear you complaining," Wally teased, pointedly looking his best friend over. The younger boy glanced down, turned bright red again, and hurriedly pulled his pants back up.

"I thought we were taking it slow?" He mumbled, avoiding the speedster's gaze.

Definitely embarrassed.

"Yeah, but I couldn't help it. You're irresistible."

Robin chewed at his lower lip, noticing the tent in the older teen's pants, feeling a little bad that he hadn't said anything earlier. But in all honesty, he didn't know _what_ to do in this stiuation. It was all so...new.

"Do you want me to...should I...?" he averted his gaze and instead gestured to the redhead, biting his lip cutely.

Damn, he needed to _stop_ doing that, because it was _really_ distracting to the redhead.

Shaking his head, Wally leaned over and pressed a kiss to the brunette's cheek, surprising him. It was sweet, almost...reassuring, like he could tell Robin didn't know what to think about what had happened. "Nah, don't worry about it. It's getting late, I can take care of it myself."

How he managed to _say_ that without even a hint of a blush baffled the ninja.

 _Besides, we'll have plenty of time to do other stuff, maybe, hopefully;_ Wally thought to himself, "Before we go inside, I...I wanted to ask you something." It was one of the two main reasons he'd brought Robin to his special place anyway. Not only to get his mind off of whatever was bothering him.

"Hmm?"

The speedster took a deep breath, feeling nervous for the first time. Sex? No big deal to him. But what he was about to do was _terrifying_ , because it was less familiar. "Do you want to go out on a date with me?" The words were out of his mouth so fast because he almost hoped that his friend didn't catch it.

Unfortunately, from the expression on his face, he did.

"Date?" Robin asked, stunned into silence for a moment, "...But I thought you said-"

Wally grabbed his hand again, feeling more confident now that the raven-haired boy hadn't flat out refused, "I know what I said. But I also told you we should just go with it. I was.. scared, I like you a lot Robin - it's the idea of things changing that freaks me out. I'm not a fan of change. But...as long as we promise that whatever happens after, we'll still be friends no matter what, then I think it couldn't hurt to at least try..." he swallowed, seeing the pensive look on the bird's face. "Well?"

His heart hammering, Robin nodded slowly, squeezing his best friend's hand tightly in his own, "O-Okay. Let's go out on a date."

For a moment, sitting together under the stars, everything felt right. Emotions were wild - frightening and confusing and exciting all at once...

But perfect.

* * *

 **Review?**


	5. Sick Little Songbird

**All My Friends Are Superheroes**

 **Summary** : Being a teenaged hero is no walk in the park; juggling school, homework, superpowers, friends and family can be tough, especially when you and your secret boyfriend are tiptoeing around teammates, parents and mentors. However, sometimes in life you have to just stop worrying, and let the stones fall where they may. It might not be that bad, after all. Season 1. AU/OOC. Birdflash.

 **Point Of View** : Third person's POV, set in past tense/story format, with dreams/thoughts italicized. The focus will mainly be on Robin and Kid Flash, of course, but I fully plan to further explore their interactions with the team, and also with their JLA mentors. Story starts after the team has been established, right after the end of their first official mission together.

 **A/N** : So, you've probably noticed by now that I changed the name of my story. That was mostly to avoid negative associations with the song "Blurred Lines". Originally I named it that to represent Robin's and KF's lines between friendship and romance being blurred, but then I decided that since I didn't want this to just be a romance fic, but also one exploring more about teen heroes and their friendships, the fun times, their families and angst, that it would be a more suitable title. I did edit the chapters a little each while fixing spelling errors, so if you're interested, go back and see what's changed.

* * *

 _"Not every winged creature is considered a bird or a bat. Some wings are made of magic." - Raani York_

* * *

When Robin woke up, he felt awful.

He found himself alone, in his bedroom at Mount Justice, but couldn't for the life of him remember how he got there, what time it was, or anything really. Why was he there? Now that school had begun he spent his nights at the mansion. It made no sense for him to be at the team's base.

Slowly, he sat up and looked around, before immediately regretting his actions. Sharp shooting pain went right through his skull and he clutched his head, groaning as he curled back up, grimacing at the throbbing ache. Did he hit his head or something? The Boy Wonder shivered, and when a burn that suddenly ran up the back of his throat gave him a clue, and he felt dread seeping through him. Dehydration, confusion, body pains, sore throat, fatigue, and a sharp stabbing headache... _Great_. He hated getting sick.

Groaning, he closed his eyes and thought back on the last things he remembered.

One thing became abundantly clear...

If Robin _ever_ saw another grain of sand again in this lifetime it would be too soon.

Having your memories restored by a friendly green alien girl from Mars who turns out to be one of your closest friends? Kinda cool. Spending 48 hours wandering the desert without knowing what the heck was going on and then suffering from the world's worst headache from the aforementioned memory restoration? Definitely _not cool_.

A pretty exhausting experience, if you ask him.

Opening his eyes again, he tried to recall exactly what happened before he awoke there. All he knew was that he felt completely drained by the time he was on the Bio-Ship, getting buckled up in his seat. For whatever reason, he couldn't seem to remember dreaming anything, which he always did, but it felt like for once, despite how unwell he felt, his sleep had been restful.

How long had he been out? What time was it?

Still frowning, he swung his legs over the edge of the bed and stood, flinching at the cold floor touching his bare feet, and taking note of the fact that he was no longer in his uniform, but in some casual clothes instead. Who the heck had undressed him? If it was one of the others, that would be pretty weird. But then again, the thought of Red Tornado doing it was just as unnerving (emphasis on the _un_ ).

Spotting his sunglasses on the table nearby, he quickly slipped them on and headed out into the hallway.

Robin could hear sounds coming from the kitchen.

"-is still running tests on the foreign tech anyways." Kaldur's softer voice became more clear as he headed in that direction.

"Sphere." Conner firmly replied, "And he's _not_ "foreign tech", don't call him that."

Were they talking about that bizarre orb thing that Superboy and Miss Martian had decided to bring home with them? How did they even know it was male? It wasn't like there was a way to tell, since it wasn't humanoid-looking and the pitch of its "voice" was neither masculine nor feminine.

The sound of Wally's laughter made him smile slightly even before he reached the doorway.

"Someone's excited about their new pet!" The familiar ginger was, surprisingly, also still in his pajamas, leaning over the counter where the others were gathered around. "I can't believe ol' Bats of all people said you could keep it here. But when I ask if we can get a mascot, I'm being ' _ridiculous_ '." He huffed.

In the doorway now, he could smell coffee and food wafting around, and it made his mouth water. Even so, Robin couldn't help but notice how Wally and Artemis were standing quite close, and she had her typical annoyed look directed at him, but it seemed different, almost...fond.

"Okay, West, that was _completely_ different. First of all, you asked for a _Capybara_. I'm pretty sure Batman doesn't want some freaky giant pig-rat thing living at our HQ. Secondly, the orb - er, _Sphere_ ," she corrected when she saw Conner glance at her, "Is robotic. No food, no cage, no mess. Besides," she elbowed him lightly in the side, "You're already the closest thing to a mascot we need."

"Aw, thanks Arty." He grinned playfully while ignoring the insult, and she scowled, but her glare didn't have any real heat behind it.

"Call me that again and I'll shoot you in the foot."

The blonde had a sickeningly sweet smile on her lips as the redhead paled, "Duly noted!" He let his gaze wander, and happened to glance over M'gann's and Conner's shoulders, and instantly perked up at the sight of Robin (which made him feel a lot better, actually), "Hey, look who's decided to rejoin the land of the living!"

At his words the others all turned around, Artemis and M'gann both smiled, and Kaldur gave a friendly nod, while Conner simply looked at him, more or less as stoic as ever. However, the raven-haired teen couldn't help but notice how his posture seemed more relaxed than usual.

No doubt about it, he was positive him and the Martian girl had something going on. He hoped one of them asked the other out soon.

"Hello, Robin," Kaldur was the first to speak up as the youngest member of their team stepped into the kitchen/dining area, rubbing the back of his hand over his eyes, "We trust you are feeling well rested?"

Blinking, the raven-haired teen looked between his friends, as if trying to think of how to answer. He opened his mouth to respond, but instead of words, all that came out was a long, horrible cough that startled his teammates and himself equally. He covered his mouth with his hand out of politeness, trying to clear his throat, but that just made it worse.

If it had just been a normal cough from a sore throat or something, it might not have been such a big deal, but it was the sound of the cough - a deep hacking sound that came right from his lungs and left him wheezing - that had the others staring at him with concern.

"Rob, you okay, buddy?" Wally asked as he stood up straighter, zipping over to his best friend's side.

Only once he was right next to Robin did he notice his appearance.

There was no way of putting it nicely - he looked like shit. The brunette boy was paler than usual, ashen; strands of dark hair plastered to his face, which was glistening with perspiration, he was less than steady on his feet, and seemed unfocused. Plus, he was shivering, and it wasn't even cold inside.

If he wasn't wearing sunglasses, the speedster would have seen how glassy his companion's eyes were, and it wouldn't have taken him by surprise when the Boy Wonder suddenly swayed.

Thankfully, Wally was more than fast enough to catch Robin before he could do a faceplant on the floor and likely break his nose, letting out a cry of his name as the younger teen suddenly lost consciousness in his arms, while their team members jumped to their feet.

Arms curling under Robin to lift him up, Wally's face became pinched with worry, and he looked at his friends, "He's out cold."

* * *

Someone was carrying him.

Robin knew this because he could feel the motions, and it made his stomach queasy despite the fact that whoever it was seemed to be taking extra care not to jostle him. He clenched his teeth together, eyes squeezed shut, and tried to concentrate all of his energy on not throwing up.

He could hear voices surrounding him, but it was difficult to make out all of what was being said.

 _"What do we do now?"_

 _"...think he hit his head?"_

 _"–not a concussion–"_

 _"Seems dehydrated, get him something to drink!"_

It could have been seconds or minutes that passed, he didn't know because no one was talking anymore, and suddenly something plastic was being pressed against his mouth. A water bottle. The young teen parted his lips, drinking greedily until it was gone, but it only temporarily soothed his enflamed throat.

Apparently he was starting to slip into unconsciousness again, because an ice cold hand was pressed against his burning cheek, a welcoming sensation, and someone was telling him to try to stay awake. "Crap! Kaldur, he's burning up! Robin? Rob? Can you hear me?"

He mumbled something like "yes", he thought, though it might have just been in his head.

Robin felt himself being lowered down onto a bed, and panic seized him; he didn't want them to go! God, he hated being sick so much, what if his friends just left him so he could sleep it off? It was stupid, but being left alone when he wasn't feeling well freaked him out; he absolutely despised it.

The first time he'd gotten sick after Bruce had taken him in, the nine-year-old had cried for two hours because of how bad he felt, and how much he wanted his parents there to comfort him. It was an embarassing memory, but it also reminded him of one of the first times his guardian had acted like an actual _human_ around him, because Bruce seemed to realize just what he needed (though the boy suspected Alfred had something to do with that), and stuck by him until he felt better.

But now his friends were going to leave him, because they didn't know any better, and that scared him a lot more than he cared to admit, "N-No," he croaked out, blindly reaching out to grab the sleeve of whoever had been holding him.

"It's okay, Rob!" Cool hands took ahold of his, squeezing gently, "I got you, I'm right here."

 _Wally_.

That chased away some of the fear.

He relaxed a little, turning his head slightly to the side, resting it on the edge of a pillow, and felt stabbing nausea roll through him again, fighting the urge to pull his knees up in an attempt to alleviate the pain. Instead, he drew a sharp breath and stuttered out, "H...Hurts."

"Where? Where does it hurt, Robin?" Kaldur's gentle voice spoke somewhere above him, and Wally was now rubbing both of his hands softly, trying his best to calm him down.

"Stomach."

The pain was now bordering on excruciating, the ache refusing to ease in the slightest. Gritting his teeth again, the thirteen-year-old was trying (and failing) to hold back his tears.

 _It hurts so bad_.

The Atlantean looked down at the boy, "I'll see if we have anything to help." He went to check the medical supplies that they kept in the bay, which was where they were currently standing, mostly because of convenience but also because the speedster insisted that Robin was likely to murder them if they all went into his bedroom without permission.

"W-Wally?" The redhead watched as his best friend's teary blue eyes opened, his sunglasses having fallen off at some point (the speedster was pretty sure Kaldur could be trusted not to try and figure out Rob's identity, plus it wasn't like he kept up with surface politics), his gaze flickering around before finally spotting him, "Please... stay? I d-don't want to be alone." He started coughing violently again.

The sound made Wally's heart break slightly.

Robin looked so damn _young_ , even for his age, curled up in the big hospital bed, literally _whimpering_ in pain. What was wrong with him? He'd been fine last night! Tired, maybe, but still healthy. He could only guess that the past couple of days had taken their toll on him. Wally himself hadn't gotten so much as a sniffle since he'd gained his abilities at age thirteen. He and Uncle Barry could only assume that their sped up healing process made it impossible for germs to infect them. Even Jay had confirmed that he hadn't gotten ill since becoming a speedster, except when he somehow got his powers taken temporarily.

The brunette was staring desperately at Wally now, gripping his hands way too tightly, but he didn't dare pull away.

"I'm not going anywhere, Rob," He promised, firmly, "I'm here for you."

Miss Martian and Superboy were gone to get Red Tornado, who was in his apartment above the HQ, while Artemis had run off to try and contact the League, preferably Batman. But at this point they would have been glad to see Green Arrow or Black Canary, or hell, even Superman (though Conner would probably have something to say if it came to that).

They were heroes, not doctors, what were they supposed to do to help Robin?

Kaldur soon returned, deciding that they should check the brunette's temperature first, before giving him any pills. After all, what if he _did_ have a concussion and wasn't only sick? The others didn't seem to think so, but he was worried. Would knocking him out with drugs cause any problems?

This was why they _needed_ an adult.

It took some convincing before Robin eventually let them put the disposable thermometer in his mouth. When it beeped, Wally watched as the Atlantean frowned, "Nearly 103. It could be his body simply fighting off an infection, but we should still keep our eye on his temperature just in case, make sure it doesn't get any higher."

"What else?" The redhead asked, as Robin's eyelids fluttered shut, his breathing slowing slightly as he seemed to drift off.

The fifteen-year-old felt helpless, and he hated it.

"Until someone from the League can be reached? Not much. Make sure he drinks lots of fluids, keep his fever from climbing, and give him some medication for the pain when he wakes up again. Ibuprofen can be used to regulate a temperature."

Biting his lip anxiously, the speedster reluctantly let go of his friend's hands, turning to Kaldur, "So, I... _we_ should make sure he drinks lots of water?"

"Actually," the older boy rubbed the back of his neck, thinking for a moment. "In this case, keeping him on an IV drip would be better. So he stays hydrated, that way you don't have to keep waking him up." Aqualad himself had recovered from the desert rather quickly - the benefits of living right by the Atlantic Ocean, he supposed.

Wally stared at his older friend, " _Please_ tell me you know how to do that?" Much to his relief, the other teen nodded slightly, confirming that he did.

Good, because _he_ sure as hell didn't!

Kaldur went to do just that, and Wally had to turn away because even though he wasn't _afraid_ of needles, seeing one get stuck into Robin's wrist wasn't exactly something he wanted etched into his memories. Just then, Miss Martian floated through the wall, Superboy arriving soon after, and KF thought quick enough to tuck a blanket around Robin's head almost like a cloak, keeping his face hidden from their view.

"RT is on his way, but Artemis wasn't able to contact anyone on the Watchtower."

"They're probably not even awake yet!" The redhead said, exasperated. It was too freaking early for this crap, the only reason they'd gotten up and had breakfast when they had was because all of them were having trouble sleeping after the nightmarish past couple of days.

Glancing down at Robin's sweaty, pallid face, he considered what he should do. Even if they were taking care of him so far, he really didn't want to risk something happening and not having anyone that knew what they were doing there to help. He could always call Uncle Barry, but...

"Get out." Wally said abruptly, and the other three looked at him in surprised confusion. Good thing Artemis wasn't in the room or she probably would have slapped him for being so rude. "I can get in touch with someone from the League, but you guys can't be in earshot, sorry."

Just then the blonde archer returned, making him grimace at speaking too soon, "What's going on?"

"How can you contact the League, Wally? Even Red Tornado can't contact them when they're not answering!"

The redhead sighed, running his fingers through his hair, "I'm going to call Batman."

Now, they were gaping, "How?"

"I have his cell phone number."

"Wait, hold up," Artemis crossed her arms, staring at him with an insulting amount of disbelief. " _Batman_ gave _you_ his _phone number_?"

"No."

Truthfully, Batman didn't even know that Wally knew his and Robin's identities. The speedster had kept quiet about it, but at one point his best friend had told him Bruce Wayne's personal contact number, his phone that he always had on, in case of an emergency. The younger boy was always planning ahead for anything that might happen.

Seeing the looks of uncertainty on their faces, Wally exhaled, "Alright, look, a while back - Rob gave me Bats' number in case anything ever happened and we couldn't get in touch with the League. Thing is, Batman doesn't actually _know_ I have it, so chances are he'll flip his shit or something and I really would rather that you didn't overhear the conversation. That okay?"

The lie flowed from his lips with ease.

He couldn't have them nearby, especially not Superboy with his super-hearing, because he really didn't know how Bruce Wayne was going to react to getting a phone call from Kid Flash, especially while he was at work.

Was it possible to Batglare someone to death through a cordless phone, he wondered? Because if so, Wally was most definitely screwed.

"Alrighty..." M'gann was the first one to leave, followed by Kaldur and Conner. Artemis was the only one to linger behind for a moment, eyeing him almost suspiciously, before she headed out also. Wally waited a good few minutes, until he was sure they'd be at the other side of the mountain, before pulling out his cell and dialing the number.

To his surprise, the man answered on the second ring, "Wayne."

Well, it _was_ his personal number...

He probably would have been even quicker, except the fact that an unfamiliar number was calling him might have thrown him slightly, "Ba-Mr. Wayne?" The redhead gulped, suddenly thinking maybe this wasn't such a good idea. There was a long pause, "...Who is this? I'm in an important meeting."

Bruce Wayne's voice wasn't _quite_ as gruff or growl-ish as Batman's, but it still held the same curt and slightly impatient tone as the Dark Knight's. It was certainly just as intimidating.

"It's Ki-" Wally stopped suddenly, Robin's words echoing in his ear. It was a cell number - cell phones weren't always secure, they could be hacked and recorded. Few people knew who Batman really was. The speedster got the idea that Mr. Wayne knew exactly who he was on the phone with, but was waiting to see what was going on before letting anything slip. Precautious. "It's Wally, er, Wally West. I'm, uh...I know your son," he said, carefully.

When Bruce responded, his voice had taken on a slightly lower tone.

To an outsider it would just sound a tad impatient, but KF could practically _feel_ the sharp edge. "I see... and just what is this all about, exactly?"

Yeah, he was angry, no doubt about it.

Silently praying for his life, Wally glanced over at Robin's sleeping form, and the sight of him shivering and mumbling in his sleep gave him the strength to continue speaking, "Dick is...at our _friend's_ house," he emphasized, swallowing hard, trying not to sound too urgent. "He's...sick, we think."

 _Way to sound convincing, West!_

"You think." The man repeated, in a deadpan, and yet the redhead could hear a hint of something else. He'd always been intuitive and observant when it came to other people, though not many knew it. Wally would swear in that moment that the billionaire vigilante sounded _worried._

Wally licked his lips, "Yeah... He's got a fever and a stomach ache, we think he might have picked up some kind of flu at...school. We tried to, ah, contact my parents," He hoped Bruce would know he was talking about the Justice League members, "But they aren't picking up. So, I was hoping-"

"Is Dick okay?"

The question came out more like a demand, and the redhead was shocked to realize the man _was_ indeed concerned.

"Not really. I mean, he's sleeping right now..." Wally answered, though in reality he wanted to blurt out the fact that the boy had been crying and pleading with him not to be left alone, how he was quite obviously in pain but they didn't want to risk giving him anything, and they'd also had Kaldur jam a needle into his arm. "But he feels pretty bad, and we were just wondering what we should do."

 _Because we don't know._

"Understood," Bruce Wayne answered on the other end, and before the speedster could question what the heck that was supposed to mean, he continued, "I'll come pick him up just as soon as I can."

A dial tone rang out as Wally jerked the phone from his ear, unsure whether to be relieved or annoyed.

Looking down at his best friend, he sighed, taking his hand again, "Get better soon, Rob."

* * *

 **Isn't Sick!Robin cute?! Also - who wants to see Roy show up soon? Good, because you're going to. I'm trying to decide whether to have the team hang out and have fun for a while, or have him, Artemis, KF and Robin get kidnapped. I'm considering doing both, because I love angst and drama and I want a reason for the friends to be protective over each other and also drag the League members in, since this story's supposed to involve them also.**

 **Let me know your thoughts!**


	6. Assignment

**All My Friends Are Superheroes**

 **Summary** : Being a teenaged hero is no walk in the park; juggling school, homework, superpowers, friends and family can be tough, especially when you and your secret boyfriend are tiptoeing around teammates, parents and mentors. However, sometimes in life you have to just stop worrying, and let the stones fall where they may. It might not be that bad, after all. Season 1. AU/OOC. Birdflash.

 **Point Of View** : Third person's POV, set in past tense/story format, with dreams/thoughts italicized. The focus will mainly be on Robin and Kid Flash, of course, but I fully plan to further explore their interactions with the team, and also with their JLA mentors. Story starts after the team has been established, right after the end of their first official mission together.

 **A/N** : This is sort of a filler chapter, with a little bit of fluff and the start of the adults actually getting involved in stuff concerning the kids. Next one will definitely have more drama, so there's that to look forward to!

* * *

 _"Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around." - Leo Buscaglia_

* * *

Robin awoke to the sensation of someone dabbing at his face with a cool washcloth.

"Uhh..." The young boy forced his eyes open, wincing at the painfully bright lights that assaulted his vision, "What's going on?" His voice sounded scratchy and sore, but it still surprised him when a cold bottle of water was abruptly shoved into his hands.

He looked up, and saw a pair of deep green eyes, full of concern, gazing back down at him, "Wally?"

"Yeah, buddy, it's me." The redhead gave a smile, but even in his own feverish state, to the younger boy, it seemed phony, "You had us all pretty worried for a while there."

Uncapping the bottle with shaking fingers, because it was still so cold despite the fact that he had two rather heavy blankets pulled up to his chest, Robin took a long sip, and the icy burn didn't even bother him. In fact, he welcomed it. Eventually, he asked, "What's wrong with me?"

"You're sick, dude."

Well, _duh_.

The speedster must have seen the sarcastic expression on his face, because he grinned slightly, before telling him, "You have the flu. Influenza. It's not Pneumonia, thankfully, which would be way worse. Basically it's a really, _really_ bad version of a common cold." Wally was obviously trying to make it sound like good news, but it didn't do much to cheer him up.

" _Great_ ," Robin groaned, dropping his head back down on the pillow as the dizziness began to return. Just his luck that he would get the flu of all things, consideing he hadn't yet gotten the annual vaccine for it. This sucked. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that the speedster was still wearing his pajamas, and frowned slightly, "What time is it, anyways?" Another reason why he hated getting ill, it always messed with your senses.

"Uhhhh... 'bout nine o'clock, I think."

"In the morning?" The brunette asked, blinking in surprise. He'd really been out for four hours?

Wally cocked his head to the side, and shifted in his chair, "Ah, no. It's...it's evening, Rob."

The Boy Wonder stared at his best friend, stunned. "...What? You're kidding, right?"

"Yeah... Uh, no." KF rubbed the back of his neck, and gave a small laugh that reflected discomfort more than it did actual amusement, "Your fever got pretty high. Like, dangerously high. We tried lowering the heat, turning on the fans, used a cold compress... But you wouldn't wake up, even when we dunked you in the pool."

" _What?!_ "

The freckled boy smirked, and he glared, "I'm kidding. Mostly. You sorta just drifted in and out, babbling nonsense. But, uh, it was bad. You were awake a couple of hours ago - long enough to take some Ibuprofen to break your fever, and then fell back asleep again. M'gann freaked a bit, but she's never seen a sick human before, soooo..." he shrugged, "How are you feeling, anyways?"

"Like I got beaten with a crowbar." The raven-haired teen grimaced, he was speaking from experience. Robin didn't actually remember waking up at all.

Wally gave him a sympathetic look, "Yowch, that sucks."

He nodded in agreement, sighing heavily, "Yeah... Hey, wait a sec, how come you're not sick? Or any of the others? We were _all_ out in the desert."

"Well, I'm immune. Speedsters rapid healing rate and cell regeneration process make it pretty much impossible for us to get effected by most illnesses, medications, alcohol, etc." The redhead instantly told him, and the thirteen-year-old gave him the evil eye.

"I can't speak for Martians, Kryptonians or Atlanteans though. As for Artemis, well, I'm guessing that germs are just too scared of her to try attacking." He chuckled, and the brunette had to smile slightly at his words, before a thought from earlier hit him, causing him to frown as he asked, "Do you like her?"

Cue a blank look from the speedster, "Who?"

Robin wanted to slap a palm to his face, but refrained, less he make his headache any worse, " _Artemis!_ "

The ginger was staring at the Boy Wonder, wordlessly, and the longer his best friend and long time crush remained silent, the tighter his stomach got, dread beginning to creep over him, making him feel cold again, but in a different way this time.

And then... Wally burst out laughing.

It was so unexpected that the younger boy actually jumped slightly in surprise.

"Hahahaha! Oh my God, are you kidding me?" His friend actually had tears running down his face, "Y-You think that I... Really? _Artemis?_ Pfffft." He soon broke off into chuckles, and sobered up pretty quickly when he saw the expression on Robin's face, "Wait, you mean you're _serious?_ "

"Nevermind." He muttered, huffing as he pulled the blankets up over his shoulders and turned away from his friend, "You guys just seemed to have gotten...closer, that's all." He tried not to let a bitter edge slip into his tone. He really shouldn't have asked. Especially considering he was pretty sure he knew the answer anyways.

"Well, nearly getting blown up together while amnesiac might do that to a person," Wally seemed to have finally calmed down, "But no, I don't like her, not like that. Blondes aren't really my type, anyways." He said dismissively.

Robin looked back at him, raising an eyebrow, "Yeah, I know, I totally hit on Black Canary, but that was _completely_ different. She's a _babe_ , Rob, you just can't see it 'cause she acts like a den mother to you and you're only thirteen years old, but it's true. She's like a ten on the hotness scale plus bonus points for wearing leather. Just... don't tell G.A. I said that." He quickly added, causing the brunette to crack a small smile. "But why do you ask? I mean, just because we're not at each other's throats anym-" he stopped, realization slamming into him like a truck, "Oh."

"What?"

The speedster paused, and said, "I get it. You're a little bit jealous."

Wally wanted to hit himself as the words came out, because _tact, West, tact_.

His best friend had instantly jerked up into a sitting position, head snapping up, glaring as he hissed out, " _I am not!_ "

"Look, Rob, it's cool..." Wally bit his lip, not wanting to cross some sort of invisible line, but feeling like he already had, anyways. "I mean, after everything that's happened between _us_ in the past couple of months? If I thought you had a crush on someone else, I... I guess...I'd be a little jealous too."

Robin seemed shocked by the statement, and it actually hurt a little.

Maybe the sickness was just clouding the Boy Wonder's memories, but Wally thought he had made his own feelings for his closest pal pretty clear, less than a week ago.

"Besides," The redhead gave him a look that he hoped was reassuring, "Just 'cause there's some cute, _extremely irritating_ girl hanging around doesn't mean I have feelings for her. We're just started to become sorta friends, I think. _You're_ the one that I like, Robin. Really, Artemis's got nothing on you."

"You're just saying that."

Damn it all... How could the little ninja be so damn self-assured and confident when taking down bank robbers and murderers and freakin' _monsters_ , yet seem so unsure of himself and what his own _best friend_ was saying when it came to things like this?

The kid was only a high school freshman and he was already more angsty than the majority of the teenage population.

But, then again, he supposed that everyone had their own vulnerabilities, secret worries and concerns that they didn't share with anyone. The speedster certainly had his. If Robin's biggest one was going to be the fear of unrequited love, well, it could definitely be worse.

And yet... Wally couldn't let him go on thinking that way.

"Dick," he spoke quietly, just a whisper really, to avoid Superboy's keen ears, that he almost thought the black-haired boy wouldn't hear him. But he did, and clearly didn't expect to hear his real name spoken, because his eyes widened slightly; before the younger teen could speak, the redhead leaned across the rail of the hospital bed and pressed his lips to Robin's own soft ones.

His friend tensed, an automatic reaction to anything that took him by surprise, and after a moment started to pull away, mumbling in protest, "Wally, I'm _sick_."

But Wally was pretty much permanently vaccinated against disease, a nice perk, and even if that weren't the case, he couldn't be sure it would have stopped him, because he followed Dick, reaching a hand up to cup the boy's hot cheek, tilting his head downwards so the other teen didn't have to strain up as much.

The kiss seemed to take Robin's breath away, and he couldn't even blame it on the whole having the flu thing, considering it still happened when he was perfectly healthy. Everything about Wally seemed to inflame his senses, make his heart skyrocket and his head spin, none of which was unpleasant in the least.

By the time that Wally reluctantly pulled away, he was already panting for air, but that was nothing compared to how Robin looked. His best friend's face was rather flushed, covered in a thin sheen of sweat, and he was breathing harshly.

Okaaaay, so maybe that was a bad idea.

Making out with someone who was sick couldn't possibly help the younger boy's condition, but he couldn't, in that moment, think of another way to reassure him; show him that his feelings were _real_.

"By the way, Robin?" Wally began, as he managed to slow his racing heartbeat.

The brunette blinked, cocking his head slightly to the side, questioningly.

"I still owe you that date."

Despite how bad he probably felt, his words did the trick, Robin's face broke out into a bright smile.

* * *

God, it was so freaking _boring_ at night when there was nothing to do.

Wally didn't like it.

 _At all._

Hence why he was currently laying on the floor of the hangar, glaring up at the ceiling.

Ever since Batman had arrived at Mount Justice just over an hour ago, he'd barred anyone else from entering the medical bay, stating that Robin needed to rest, and not have his friends crowding him constantly.

It was kind of irritating, since the redhead had promised he wouldn't leave, but the brunette had spoken up just as the speedster had been about to protest, saying that it was alright, he wasn't feeling as horrible as before. He kind of had to force himself to go, because the memory of his best friend begging him to stay meant he would have argued with the Dark Knight's request, no matter how much trouble it would get him into.

Now it was evening, and on the suggestion of M'gann he had gone and showered, gotten dressed and eaten something, but he still wanted to check in on Robin.

He was feeling antsy.

" _ **Recognized: Green Arrow; 08.**_ "

Blinking, the teenager pulled himself up into a sitting position, just in time to see the blonde Leaguer enter the YJL sanctuary.

"Hey Ollie!" Wally greeted cheerfully, almost relieved at having someone to talk to. "How's it going?"

He'd known Green Arrow for almost as long as he'd been Flash's sidekick, the two men were pretty good friends, so he got to know the archer well. Out of the members of the League he had met, Oliver Queen was definitely one of the nicer and more relaxed ones.

But, maybe he was biased. After all, the redhead was kind of pissed off at Superman these days for avoiding Conner, and Batman just plain scared the crap out of him most of the time.

The green-clad man gave a slight nod, crossing his arms, "Not bad, Kiddo. I was just, uh, you know, in the neighbourhood. Thought I'd drop by..."

Wally raised an eyebrow, cocking his head to the side, wondering what the point of such an obvious lie was, "Wow. If horrible lying skills were hereditary I'd _almost_ believe Artemis actually is your niece." At the surprised look the statement got him, he rolled his eyes, "C'mon, G.A., I've known you practically forever. You never mentioned having siblings. Besides, when we were out in the desert with amnesia, Arty might've slipped a little - something about her father testing her by wanting her to kill me." He laughed, that whole "ninja movie" thing was complete bullshit. "No worries, I haven't said anything to the others. Though I'm pretty sure Robin knows more than he's letting on, he always does."

"Fantastic," Oliver muttered under his breath, "I _told_ Bats no one was gonna buy his cover story. Just 'cause we're both blondes..."

The speedster snickered, "If you are here to see the _Arrowette_ , it might not be the best time. She's been going through some kinda perpetual PMS these last few days - she's annoyed about having to switch schools or whatever, I try to tune her out most of the time."

Scratching at the back of his neck, Ollie gave a slight nod at that, not having much of a problem picturing that. He knew her mother had essentially guilt-tripped Artemis into acceping the Wayne Foundation scholarship she'd been given. "Uh, good to know, but I actually dropped by to see you and Robin. I need a favor."

That instantly made the redhead perk up slightly, "Special mission? Cool! But, oh..." he deflated slightly, "Guess you didn't get the memo. Boy Wonder's got the flu. I'd never say it to his face, but he looks like crap. Plus," he glanced around to make sure a certain Dark Knight wasn't within earshot, "His ol' man's gone into DaddyBats mode, so I'm pretty sure he's benched until further notice."

Wally couldn't help but notice the troubled look on Green Arrow's face when he told him the news. Obviously whatever he needed done was important, and since the man was like an honorary uncle to him, he cheerily offered, "Buuuuut _I_ have a speedster immune system, and I'm sure I could handle a solo mission for you!"

"I don't know..." Oliver shifted, uncertainly, but stopped when he saw the hurt and disappointment on Wally's face. He knew why, too. People tended to underestimate his abilities. But that really wasn't why he didn't think it was a good idea for the teen to go by himself, it was just the mission itself was...going to be difficult.

Eventually, he cleared his throat and said, "Well, if you really think you can handle it-"

"I can!" Wally told him with complete confidence. Robin needed to focus on getting better. He could do this little job for Ollie, allowing his best friend to rest, and still prove himself to be capable while on his own. Plus it was the perfect distraction from his boredom! Excitement rushed through him at the thought, and he looked eagerly at the blonde. "So, what's the mission?"

"Well, I want you to track down Spee-er, I mean _Red Arrow_ , and convince him to join your team.'

Almost instantly, the smile was wiped from the ginger's face.

 _Oh, shit._

* * *

 **So, I've planned out all my story couples (which you can read at the beginning of the first chapter), and had this amazing but horrific idea in my head of the Leaguers finding out about their sidekicks (sorry, partners) love lives, and am wondering about if I should do a future chapter (which would be mostly crack!humor) about the kids recieving "the talk" and being mortified about it. Or the adults being exasperated by the kids and their (incorrect) knowledge. Thoughts?**


	7. Eye Of The Tiger

**All My Friends Are Superheroes**

 **Summary** : Being a teenaged hero is no walk in the park; juggling school, homework, superpowers, friends and family can be tough, especially when you and your secret boyfriend are tiptoeing around teammates, parents and mentors. However, sometimes in life you have to just stop worrying, and let the stones fall where they may. It might not be that bad, after all. Season 1. AU/OOC. Birdflash.

 **Point Of View** : Third person's POV, set in past tense/story format, with dreams/thoughts italicized. The focus will mainly be on Robin and Kid Flash, of course, but I fully plan to further explore their interactions with the team, and also with their JLA mentors. Story starts after the team has been established, right after the end of their first official mission together.

* * *

 _"Do what you can to help people but have the wisdom to accept your limits." - Bryant McGill_

* * *

The moment that school had ended on Wednesday afternoon, Wally ran straight to Mt. Justice.

He had thought long and hard last night about whether or not he really wanted to go looking for Roy, something that Ollie had recommended he do beforehand. Truth be told, the idea of confronting the older redhead alone was a bit nerve-wracking, considering the archer's tendency to be...temperamental.

But, after so long of tossing and turning around in bed, he'd come to the decision that Red Arrow was always meant to be a part of their team, whether he liked it or not.

Not only was G.A. worried about Roy, but so was Wally, Robin, and the rest of the gang. Sure, Roy was _technically_ a legal adult, but it didn't mean he was ready to be out on his own. Even though money wasn't exactly a problem, considering what he'd inherited from his parents and the trust fund Ollie had set up for him, they were still concerned.

Apparently Roy was currently living in some shady apartment down in Star City, or more specifically, in the Glades, and when Green Arrow had told him that, the speedster was initially a bit... confused. If Ollie knew just where his ex-sidekick's place was, then why did he need _Wally_ to find him?

That's when Oliver had spilled that he had already tried talking to Roy, multiple times, but the teen wasn't too keen on friendly chitchat from his former mentor. Apparently he was just as stubborn as ever. While that certainly _sounded_ like the younger archer, Wally got the feeling there was more to it than that.

No doubt Green Arrow taking on a new apprentice in the form of Artemis had hurt him, even if he refused to acknowledge it.

Wally was sure he would have felt the same way if he and Uncle Barry'd had a falling out, only for him to return a couple of weeks later to ask for help and find out he'd, essentially, been replaced.

Oliver's and Roy's relationship was not one that would be fixed easily, especially not when both of them tended to act like emotionally-stunted children at times (and only one of them really had the excuse of actually being one to fall back on), not that he'd say that to his honorary uncle-of-sorts. Ultimately, it was the thought of the guy he'd looked up to for several years now hunting down criminals in the dark of the night, completely alone with no one else to really talk to, that helped the speedster make up his mind.

So off to the HQ he went.

* * *

 _ **"Recognized: Kid Flash, B03."**_

When Wally arrived, Green Arrow was already there, apparently waiting for him. To his (mild) surprise, Black Canary was with him.

...and so was some person he'd never seen before.

"Uh, hey, Arrow, Canary. Uh... What's going on?" He greeted, a little uncertainly, as he looked between the three of them, before blurting out, unable to help himself, "Who's this?"

The girl standing there was of Indian descent. At least, that's what he figured. He couldn't see much of her besides her face because of the outfit she was wearing - long, very colorful silk draped over one shoulder to create some kind of wrap-dress, trailing to the floor. Around sixteen or so, she had dark almond-shaped eyes, full lips, and a sharp nose, with long, thick black hair and a caramel complexion.

She was really pretty, if he was completely honest, and six months ago he probably would have jumped at the chance to hit on her. But at the moment he kind of only had eyes for one raven-haired beauty (which he would never actually say out loud, because it would probably sound stupid), not to mention he had a mission to focus on.

Find Roy, and convince him to join the team, and possibly move back with Ollie and Dinah.

But, still, he didn't want to be rude...

Smiling, Black Canary introduced him, "Kid Flash, I would like you to meet Sushmita. She is my new...apprentice, you might say. Arrow told me that he was stopping by here today, so I thought I would bring her on a little tour of the mountain."

 _Sushmita? Definitely Indian. ...I think._

"Uh," Turning to face her, he wracked his brain for some retained knowledge in his world history class last year, and putting his hands together, said, "...Namaste?" It came out sounding more like a question, while he internally prayed he got it right and didn't say something offensive by mistake.

Canary and Arrow both looked at him in shock.

What? He did actually pay attention during class!

...Most of the time.

Sushmita smiled at him in response, though, bright and genuine, before she placed her own hands together in front of her chest, gave a slight bow, and repeated the phrase back to him. Although it sounded a lot less strange coming from her, " _Namaste_. Sundara kō milanā āpa."

Okay, aside from English he knew Latin, Greek, French, a little Spanish and some Italian, plus about four years worth of American Sign Language - but Hindi was definitely _not_ a language taught in most public schools in the U.S. That he knew of, anyways.

"Er, I agree?"

"You were right, _Mitra Dīnā,_ " she giggled in response, much to his surprise, and looked up at the blonde woman, "He is _majēdāra_."

He hoped that was a good thing.

Black Canary grinned at her, "Hām̐. Aura vaha bhī kōśiśa nahīṁ karatā."

Oliver seemed just as lost as he was, which was a bit comforting. He turned to Wally and said, "Sushmita might be joining the team, Canary, Red Tornado and Batman are going to be discussing it later."

Wait... she wasn't even joining for certain and they were already showing her around their _headquarters?_ Oh, Batman was _so_ not going to be happy about that. Judging from the slight smirk on B.C.'s lips and the way her eyes twinkled, she seemed to be well aware of that fact.

"That's uh, good, I guess?" Wally didn't even have time to process whether or not he should be happy about this or not, because the blonde man suddenly clamped a hand down on his shoulder and began leading away from his girlfriend and her new sidekick...er, _partner_. "So? Have you made up your mind, then?" Ollie seemed hopeful, and that just made him even more sure that he was doing the right thing.

Giving a nod, the speedster told him, "I'll do it. I'll go find Roy and convince him to join us."

"Great, thanks Kid. I really appreciate this." The man said with a smile, looking relieved, but Wally just gave a slight shrug and told him, completely honestly, "I wouldn't get your hopes up just yet, though." He didn't want to disappoint the guy.

A puzzled expression appeared on Green Arrow's face, "Oh? Why's that? I mean, I _know_ it'll take some convincing, but..."

"Well, Roy's more likely to kick my ass before he ever agrees to join the team."

* * *

This was a _bad idea_.

Robin knew it wasn't the best plan the moment he had decided to follow Wally. He was, admittedly, feeling a tiny bit better, but he was also hyper aware that he shouldn't be pushing himself. Batman had agreed to his request that he recover at the mountain, because even if he couldn't do patrols back in Gotham, he didn't want to be stuck at the mansion all day with just Alfred to talk to.

Not that that was a bad thing, but seeing his friends helped cheer him up.

Bruce had made it quite clear, however, that he was confined to the base until he was feeling one hundred percent.

Still, when he found out from M'gann, albeit unintentionally on her part, that Green Arrow had asked Wally to go on some kind of solo mission, he _had_ to follow.

For one, what if it was something _dangerous?_

Kid Flash could need back up!

Plus, if it was really that important, why hadn't Ollie asked the team as a whole to deal with it? Something didn't sit right with him, especially considering Wally didn't even tell him about it before he left. Sure, Bruce had said he should keep the chatting with his friends thing to a minimum, and just rest, but if he spent anymore time in that hospital bed he was going to go nuts!

It was bad enough that he had to miss the past three days of school, which would no doubt leave him needing to catch up despite his honor-roll grades.

Hacking into the communication pieces that their team wore, considering they had GPS built in them, had been easy.

Sneaking out of Mount Justice without anyone noticing?

Not so much.

The young teenager really didn't expect to get tackled by something huge as he was dashing towards the Zeta-Beams.

A heavy, crushing weight on his back made him groan audibly as he was squashed flat into the floor, and all the air was suddenly squeezed out of his lungs. Then he suddenly felt hot breath on the back of his neck, which automatically made him tense up, before a low growling sound came from above him.

Wait a second - _growling?_

The Boy Wonder managed to twist his head enough to look over his shoulder, and catch a glimpse of gleaming bared teeth and a pair of pale, ice blue cat-like eyes.

No, not "cat like".

An _actual_ cat was on top of him! Or, more specifically, a freaking _tiger!_ Bengal, from the looks of it. Although, strangely, it had a snowy white coat with black patterning, as opposed to the typical orange. Albinism, maybe? But then, why wouldn't it have red or pink eyes? Could animals have blue eyes like human albinos could, anyways?

...Was he seriously asking himself that question _now?_

A more important one would be why the hell there was a _tiger_ on him in the first place, and how to get it _off_ when both of his arms were pinned to the ground under it's massive paws.

Robin was just debating the pros and cons of screaming for help, not knowing if it would cause the animal to tear him into pieces first or simply devour him whole, when he heard an unfamiliar but distinctly feminine voice cry out, " _Savannah!_ Rukēṁ! Nīcē! Khīra, mērē pālatū!"

In an instant, the crushing weight was gone, and he let loose a choked gasp as his lungs were filled once more with the air he had been denied for what felt like minutes, but was probably only a few seconds.

Pulling himself up into a sitting position, he looked to see who had saved him from the beast, only to find a woman, whom he had _definitely_ never seen before, standing beside the gigantic cat, scratching it behind the ears. She was tall, dark, and dressed in full Indian garb, and by the looks of it - the creature was her pet.

...Which really only brought _more_ questions to mind.

Apparently the girl, who seemed to have momentarily become lost in thought, realized that she was being gawked at, and suddenly approached him, with the cat following. He would have been on edge even if she hadn't smiled and offered a hand out to help him to his feet.

He accepted though, mostly because he was too stunned to do much else.

"Apologies for Savannah's physical display of dominance, Ciṛiyā, she is normally so mild-mannered." The stranger told him, stroking the cat, who was now purring contentedly. "You were in a hurry, no? She must have sensed your urgency and took it to mean you were a threat."

"I see..." Robin said, slowly, eyeing the animal - Savannah, she had called it, which he guessed meant it was female - warily. "And, may I inquire as to whom exactly you are?"

The Indian girl's smile seemed to widen even more at that, "Oh! Jahāṁ mērē vyavahāra kara rahē haiṁ?" she murmured, but it seemed to be more directed at herself than to him, which was good because he didn't understand a single word of what she was saying. " _Namaste_. My name is Sushmita, I am acquainted with the one you refer to by the name _Canary_. She has agreed to tutor me in the ways of the _League of Justice_."

Ohhhh, a new team member. That suddenly made things a whole lot clearer.

Well... sort of.

Robin was about to speak up and tell her, _hey, well, thanks for not letting your cat eat me, gotta run!_ , but before he could, the girl's intense brown eyes fixed on him, and a frown that looked almost unnatural on such a happy face tugged at the corners of her mouth, "I see, you are in a hurry to go, and yet you do not know that destination that you seek? Running blindly towards the unknown can be quite dangerous, Ciṛiyā, but I suppose we must all choose our own path regardless of the possible risk."

He stared blankly at Sushmita.

"Once again, I apologize. I do not intend to be intrusive, but are you so certain that following your companion without his knowledge or approval is the best course of action?"

 _How the heck did she...?_

No, he so didn't have the time for this. He could question Batman about letting a new member on the team without even so much as a warning later. As well as question this woman on her cryptic comments and bringing in a gigantic, possibly feral, feline indoors. He had to get to Wally, before he got way too far to catch up to!

"I'm-" He began, but she cut him off almost immediately, her hand resting on Savannah's lower back.

"No worries, I understand this is a quest you wish to pursue. Go with my blessings, Ciṛiyā, I look forward to conversing with you again upon your return."

Robin twisted where he stood, hesitating, but eventually gave a quick, grateful nod, and bounded towards the Zeta-Tube.

 _ **"Recognized: Robin; B01."**_

He couldn't let himself get distracted by all of that weirdness.

After arriving just outside Star City, the raven-haired boy promised himself he would only intervene with KF's mission if it looked like the redhead absolutely needed help. That's what friends were for, right? He would just watch from the shadows, keep an eye on him. If all went well, the speedster would never even have to know that Robin had tagged along!

He was determined not to let his closest friend get into any trouble, and so he ignored the way he still felt slightly uncoordinated on his feet, or how his uniform was already making him sweat despite the fact that this September had been a fairly cool one so far. It was probably just getting bounced on by a wild big cat, that was all. He would be fine.

 _I'm on my way, Wally._

* * *

"Not a chance in hell."

 _Slam!_

Kid Flash stared at the door in frustration, somehow he _knew_ this was going to happen. "Aw! C'mon, Roy! Let me inside!" Being able to vibrate his molecules through solid matter would so come in handy right about now.

Stupid cheap high school chemistry kit.

"Yeah, that's _so_ not happening, West." He heard the ex-Speedy call out on the other side.

That was when Wally slammed his fist against the apartment door, huffing, "Just unlock the door, okay? Buddy? Pal? Amigo? Some-other-word-that-means-friend? Can't we at least talk about this? Pleaaaaase?"

"We just did."

Groaning, the redhead considered threatening to kick the door down, but figured that would just piss the older teen off even more. Plus. the complex was kind of shady and he didn't want to attract any unwanted attention. Why had he agreed to do this in the first place? Hell, why had G.A. asked him to go in the first place? Roy had barely even tolerated Wally when he had been on good terms with the team...

"Don't you at least want to hear how the others are doing?" He asked, feebly.

No answer.

However, now he had the perfect plan to get Roy's attention.

At least, if it didn't get him killed by the red archer first.

"Ollie and Dinah are visiting today, they're back "home" now if you want to visit. Uh, it was actually him who asked me to come see you in the first place, you know, make sure you were doing okay?" The speedster paused, realizing how that might come across, and quickly added, "Not that he thinks you can't take care of yourself, becuase you definitely can, but he...worries. We all do, actually. Rob and Kal and I really miss you."

He sighed, leaning against the door, "H-Hey, I turn sixteen in less than four months! Pretty awesome, right? Remember when I was fourteen and you told me you'd teach me how to drive and pick up chicks when I got older? We still gonna do that or...?" The speedster licked his lips, thinking of what else he should say, "The team is pretty awesome, you know. We've found out all sorts of cool things. Like - did you know that Batman can _smile?_ I didn't think his facial muscles even _allowed_ that! Having a robot babysitter is _waaaaay_ less interesting than you'd think. RT is just all "you must entertain yourselves" and "assigning missions is the Batman's job", talk about _boring!_ "

There was still no sound at the other side of the door; time to pull out the big guns...

"So, remember the new chick who joined literally right after the team was formed? Did we ever tell you about that? Miss Martian? Yeah, she's a _total_ babe. I never knew the color green could be hot, but _damn_. Plot twist though! Turns out she might have a thing for _Superboy_. I know, right? I was the one trying to welcome her to the team, I even eat the burned cookies everytime she makes them! Artemis _totally_ gets on my back whenever I hit on Miss M, which... doesn't that kinda makes her a hypocrite considering she was the one eyeballing Supey the day they met? Not cool at all. Whatever, plenty of fish in the sea, as Kaldur might say. Get it, fish? Sea?"

Wally cackled as obnoxiously as he could, "Hahaha! I crack myself up. Anywho, how would you feel about a movie marathon at my place next weekend? We can invite everyone! And by everyone I mean Rob, you, Kal, Arty, Supey, and Meg, of course. I don't think my house could fit the whole League, and it's not like we have the power to shrink to Alice in Wonderland proportions. How neat would that be, though? You could get away with practically anything and no one would see you! Speaking of which, how do you feel about Disney movies anyways? I was thinking we could each pick our favorite to play. What do you like for movie night foods?" He paused, waiting for a response.

 _3... 2... 1..._

Just then the door was was flung open, and a certain red-clad archer was glaring daggers at him, which gave him the feeling that looks could, in fact, kill. "Jesus Christ, Kid! Don't you _ever_ get tired of talking? How the fuck are you _not_ dehydrated by now?"

"I got mad skills." A small grin appeared on the younger teen's face as flashed a gansta symbol at the older redhead, before smoothly gliding into the apartment before the other even knew what was happening, "Thanks for letting me in. Nice place."

Roy let out a long-suffering sigh as he shut the door again, turning around with his arms crossed, realizing he'd been bested by Kid Mouth, again. He couldn't help it, though. His brain could only take so much speed-babble before he was ready to implode, "What do you _want_ , Wally?"

"You, to join the team."

His jaw clenched, "How many times do I have to tell you that _I'm not interested_ in being a member of your Junior Justice Legue before you get the idea through your thick skull?"

"Hmm, let's try the number fifty-two and see where we get from there, kay?" Wally suggested cheerily, "You got any snacks? Arguing builds up an appetite almost as much as running up the side of a building."

"No, I don't have any-" Roy paused, cocking his head to the side, and gave the younger boy a long, appraising look, "You ran up my apartment building?"

"Uh, _yeah_. That's what happens when you don't answer the buzzer thingy, which, btw, I accidentally might have broken."

Since when had Wally trained himself to go fast enough to accelerate vertically up solid structures _without_ falling? He'd never admit it out loud, but that was kind of impressive. Definitely a useful ability to have. It reminded Roy, much to his annoyance, about something that he'd been meaning to check out, but couldn't, because his grappling arrows weren't thick enough to penetrate the warehouse's walls and get inside.

Which wouldn't normally have been a problem, but there was some seriously suspicious activity going on there, and it wasn't like he could blow a hole in the wall to get himself inside without most likely alerting everyone inside, not to mention civilians, police officers, etc...

Going to "the team" for help had crossed his mind, but he'd rejected the idea almost instantly, mostly because he didn't actually want to owe them any favors. Although there wasn't a doubt in his mind that they'd jump in to give him a hand, the auburn-haired boy hated the idea of feeling indebt to other people.

But Wally was here, trying to convince him to join, and sounding like he'd do just about anything to get him on the Justice League Juniors' sides.

It wasn't a very nice thing to do, but he could possibly work it to his advantage.

"Say, Kid... What do you say about helping out a friend?" Roy smiled as nicely and sincerely as he could manage without making himself sick, feeling a grim sort of satisfaction when the boy's bright green eyes lit up as he sprung to his feet from the couch where he'd planted his ass just a few moments ago, "Sure, buddy, anything I can do to help out a future _team member?_ " the last part ended hopefully, as the younger redhead gave him a look akin to an eager puppy.

 _Yeah, I'm probably going to hell for this._

Unbeknownst to either of the gingers, a certain black-haired bird was perched on the railing of the apartment's balcony, listening in.

Oh, he was _so_ glad he'd tailed Wally.

* * *

 **English to Hindi translations are courtesy of Google Translate, since getting perfect accuracy in a foreign language is hard as hell). "Namaste" means hello and is used as a customary greeting when meeting or departing, usually done with your hands together in front of you. It's also pretty much the only "Indian" word I already knew.** **Here's the sentences that I pretty much made up:**

 ** _Sundara kō milanā āpa. - Lovely to meet you._**

 ** _Mitra Dīnā - Friend Dinah._**

 ** _Majēdāra - Funny_**

 ** _Hām̐, aura vaha bhī kōśiśa nahīṁ karatā. - Yes, and he doesn't even need to try._**

 _ **Rukēṁ! Nīcē! Khīra, mērē pālatū. - Stop! Down! Heel, my pet.**_

 _ **Ciṛiyā - Thrush (the family of birds that the American Robin is a part of).**_

 _ **Jahāṁ mērē vyavahāra kara rahē haiṁ? - Where are my manners?**_


	8. Disastrous

**All My Friends Are Superheroes**

 **Summary** : Being a teenaged hero is no walk in the park; juggling school, homework, superpowers, friends and family can be tough, especially when you and your secret boyfriend are tiptoeing around teammates, parents and mentors. However, sometimes in life you have to just stop worrying, and let the stones fall where they may. It might not be that bad, after all. Season 1. AU/OOC. Birdflash.

 **Point Of View** : Third person's POV, set in past tense/story format, with dreams/thoughts italicized. The focus will mainly be on Robin and Kid Flash, of course, but I fully plan to further explore their interactions with the team, and also with their JLA mentors. Story starts after the team has been established, right after the end of their first official mission together.

* * *

 _"Only the really young are fearless, have the optimism, the romanticism, to take unimaginable risks." - Olivia Wilde_

* * *

"Dude... what are we even _doing_ here?"

Wally's constant questions were really starting to get on Roy's nerves, and it hadn't even been half an hour since they left the apartment yet! It really did make him wonder the same thing had before: how was it _possible_ for someone to talk so much and never stop to give it a rest?

He did his best to ignore the unnecessary chatter, however.

Currently the two boys were perched on the rooftop of an abandoned steelworks factory that had fired a couple thousand workers a few years back (the company had up and left for Mexico, which had really fucked up the economy for a while afterwards). It was right across the street from a rather large, if not seedy-looking, hotel, one that they were currently spying on.

But the real problem was that he had been noticing an unusual (not to mention _shady_ ) amount of activity around an area that was meant to be all but deserted. _The Black Orchid_ had been a rather popular hotel back in the late 90s and early 2000s, or so he'd been told, until it went bankrupt in 2007. The building went up for sale and had eventually been bought by a "private investor", who then spent the following several months renovating it with state-of-the-art security and tech, and yet...it had never been reopened for business.

Something about that _really_ didn't sit right with Roy, and he'd tried to investigate, only to find that all of the doors, windows, and pretty much any other access point in the massive structure had been locked down tighter than a sanitarium. Not to mention he had witnessed several large transport vehicles making deliveries to a seemingly empty place.

It was _weird_.

As much as he hated to admit it, going inside of that place without any backup, even to get information, was a really bad idea.

But, then again, bringing Kid Flash along with him was feeling like pretty stupid right about now, too.

Keeping his voice down, he addressed the younger redhead, "Suspicious people have been hanging around here lately, and I want to find out why. I..." he didn't want to say that he needed _help_ , "I want you to get inside and take a look around. You can't get in through the entrances or the windows, but there is a copper vent on the rooftop that you can climb down in."

Wally stared at him, "And you can't do this yourself because...?"

He huffed in frustration, glaring at the younger teenager. "...I already tried once, but I was too big. You might have better luck."

"Dude! I'm not _that_ much smaller than you are, what makes you think I could even fit anyways? And if you're so curious, couldn't you just knock out the glass from one of the windows and check it out yourself?"

"Hey, I'm grasping at straws here, plus I'm not really into causing visible property damage only to find out there's not even anything going on. Not to mention it would attract loads of unwanted attention. There's been so many people around here, I've never seen the same guy twice. I'm sure they're into some serious crap. Maybe weapons dealing, drugs... Who knows at this point? But I need to confirm it first - no sense leading the cops on a wild goose chase." If he could find a way to get Wally in, the younger boy could easily sneak past anyone inside and unlock one of the doors for Roy.

Wally hesitated, he did want to help his friend, but this seemed like an all around bad idea. He'd never be able to convince him to ask the League for help, so they were on our own. "Fine, but how do we get past the security cameras?"

"If I can interupt your bickering for a moment, maybe I could be of assistance?"

Both of the boys whirled around at that, startled, although only Wally yelped out, "WHAT THE F-"

Roy quickly clamped a hand down over the younger teen's mouth, scowling as a very familiar caped thirteen-year-old came into view. " _Great_ ," the archer grumbled, feeling his headache, which had been present ever since Wally had first buzzed his apartment, worsen substantially. "Did the others follow us here, too?" he demanded to know.

"Nope." Robin answered, popping the word on the letter 'p'. "It's just me."

Just as the eighteen-year-old redhead was about to ask why, Wally yanked his hand away from his mouth and stepped forward, crossing his arms over his chest, "You shouldn't _be here_ at all!" The older redheaded boy was surprised by the amount of anger that KF was displaying, considering the last he'd seen, the two of them were joined at the hip.

Something occurred to the speedster then, and he frowned, suspiciously. "Wait a minute... How did you know where to find us? I left way before you did..."

A guilty expression appeared on Robin's face, "About that..."

Wally's mouth dropped open slightly, "Did... did you put a tracking device on me?" He exploded when the brunette glanced away, confirming his theory, "Not cool, man! Not cool at all!"

The younger teen rubbed the back of his neck, "I'm sorry!"

"KF, will you _shut up?_ " Roy hissed under his breath, "I'm not happy about this either, but he's here now, so what's the problem?" It wasn't as though his evening could get even _more_ irritating, "I mean, he _is_ smaller, he could probably fit even better."

"See, I can help!"

Wally glowered, making a protesting noise in the back of his throat when Robin grinned at them, "Because he's _sick_ , that's why. What the Boy Wonder fails to mention is that Bats' put him on medical absence three days ago when he ended up getting _Influenza_. Not to mention a fever high enough that it could've caused _brain damage_."

The cheerful smile slipped off of Robin's face when a surprised Roy then turned to scrutinize him.

He hadn't noticed before because he'd not actually been looking for the signs, but Robin _was_ paler than usual, other than that there was no real indication that he was sick, though. He seemed okay, he had gotten there unharmed, after all... "C'mon, guys. I'm here, I might as well help. Plus, I feel fine now. I think I'm getting over it."

Glancing between the two, Roy finally sighed, "Okay, fine. You can still help."

"Arrow!" Wally protested, a betrayed look on his face. However, upon a slightly closer inspection, Roy could see something more than annoyance there. Concern. It didn't surprise him that the younger redhead was worried about Robin, they had been best friends for a couple of years now, but still... Robin had been doing this since he was nine years old, he was sure any apprentice of Batman could handle a little bug.

Whatever, he didn't have time for this.

"My mission, my call." He decided, somewhat reluctantly. "But you both have to do _everything_ I say."

If only he'd listened to Wally and sent Robin home, because he had no idea about the mess they were about to get themselves involved in...

* * *

Getting on to the Black Orchid's roof had been simple.

Robin didn't grapple his way up after putting the security cameras on a loop, he didn't want to draw any attention from the noise. Instead, he stealthily made his way up the fire escape, blending in with the shadows and hiding in corners whenever he thought he heard someone.

While making his way to the top, he'd done a little looking around, taking note of the fact that although the building was in a newly-repaired state and probably looked even prettier than it had when it first opened, there was definitely something suspicious about it. Not only was the security beyond excessive, but he also noticed that the windows were all darkly tinted as well.

Just what was going on inside that they were trying to hide?

Whatever, there'd be plenty more time for investigating later. First, he had to get inside and figure out a way to sneak Wally and Roy in unnoticed as well.

Shaking off the slightly uneasy feeling that was settling in the pit of his stomach, the thirteen-year-old made quick work of pulling off the copper covering on the air vent, and carefully crawled inside, placing the cover loosely back on in the unlikely event that someone came up on the roof and noticed it had been moved.

Climbing through the air vents wasn't the most exciting thing to do, but he wanted to help and be able to keep an eye on Wally during his errand for Green Arrow. When the redhead had gone in the direction of Roy's place, he figured out what the so called "mission" was; Ollie wanted the speedster to convince Roy to join them. Offering to help the young archer with this job was the best way to convince him and Wally to let him stay, and maybe when all was said and don't, Red Arrow would officialy be a member of their team.

It was seriously cramped in the metal vents, and Robin was doing his best to keep quiet despite the occasional bit of metal that dug into his thigh, or the fact that the dust made him want to cough and choke on the stale air. Several times he had to hold back a sneeze, which made him wish he'd reconsidered this idea.

 _Focus, find a way to get the others inside._

Robin wasn't sure how long he was climbing through the building's air ducts, working his way down carefully, and wishing that whoever owned the hotel had kept their blueprints up to date, since the ones he'd found online didn't even close to resemble the current structure.

Eventually, however, he began hearing sounds; voices, not too far away.

Holding his breath, the young teen began to slide more carefully through the vents, until he came across a slotted section, and backed up from it so no one could catch a glimpse of him if they happened to look up.

Peering down, he could see what appeared to be an office of some kind, with two men armed to the hilt.

 _"You sure the newest shipment will be safe down there with you-know-who?"_

 _"I guess. We get paid either away, so I don't care. Doesn't bother me if Petey wants to have a little fun. Better the prisoners than us, after all. So long as he doesn't kill another of 'em."_

The black-haired boy narrowed his eyes. Petey? Prisoners? _Kill?_ He filed the information away for later. They didn't say much else of importance, but the teen was getting a sinking feeling in his stomach. It was painfully clear that these men weren't dealing with drugs or weapons. At least, it certainly didn't sound like it.

What he was beginning to realize was that these men were operating a human trafficking ring out of the hotel.

Leaning his head down, he tried to see if he could get any other crucial details. Like what floor he was currently on, or exactly how many armed employees were in the building, something useful that he could tell the others...

Crap! Wally and Roy.

He was supposed to get them inside ASAP.

They were probably worrying now.

Deciding to get back on task, he began crawling forward again, only for the vent to give a horribly loud and unexpected creaking sound as he moved forward, effectively drawing the two men's attention to the ceiling. Crap, crap, crap. Double, no, triple crap! He tried to stay as still as possible, hoping they would ignore it.

No such luck, the sound had very obviously come from the air vent.

 _"You think it's the rats again?"_ He heard one voice ask.

There was a shuffling sound, and then a response, _"Dunno, let's find out."_

Before he could react, something smacked into the side of the vent, something wooden, causing the vents to shriek in protest again, and Robin pressed himself tightly against the back of it. If he moved now he would definitely give away that there was someone up there. Hesitating for a moment, he reached for a pouch on his utility belt, where he kept the explosive discs. He didn't want to alert the entire hotel to his presence, but if the men noticed him...

Normally, taking out two armed gunman would have been an easy task, but he already felt horrible. The dust was making his skin itchy and causing breathing difficulties, not to mention the headache was beginning to return. He just prayed he didn't sneeze, or else he was screwed.

 _"I don't hear anything else,"_ The second voice stated, _"Maybe it was just rats. Nasty, but what can you do?"_

Robin, still holding his breath, began to relax slightly, as he heard the guy who'd been hitting the vents with some kind of broom handle got off the chair he'd stood on to reach the ceiling. He was fine, they hadn't seen him. Everything was going to be alright. He just needed to get outside (or get the others in), and maybe contact the League to take care of this. Or at least inform them of the situation.

Everything could still go smoothly, at least that's what he told himself...

The Boy Wonder waited until the last man had left the room, waiting for what felt like hours. When no one returned, he cautiously began to exit the air vent, hopping down onto the conveniently-left behind chair, and quickly looking over his surroundings.

He was right, it was an office. Two doors, a long (tinted) rectangular window that faced the road, big wooden desk, file cabinets and even some cheesy fake potted plants in the corner.

Lame.

Deciding that they could use whatever information he could get his hands on, he slipped behind the desk to see if he could get into the computer. There wee probably files locked away in the cabinets, but paper copies irritated him, and it would have taken forever to look through them. They could focus on rescuing whatever prisoners these people had later, right now he was more concerned about getting his hands on some recent notes, blueprints, anything to help him navigate through the massive building.

Getting into the laptop was pretty simple, whoever had installed the protection was lousy. He didn't manage to locate any schematics, but what he did find was pretty sickening.

Human trafficking, hired assassinations, extortion, smuggling and selling stolen goods, narcotics _and_ weapons?

These people were willing to do anything illegal for a buck, it seemed.

He needed to get out of there now and tell Wally and Roy just what they were going up against, because, _wow_. "This is some seriously messed up stuff..." he muttered under his breath.

Robin's blood went cold when he heard a voice behind him respond, "You got that right, Kid."

He whirled around, ready to defend himself from whoever had caught him red-handed. However, he wasn't expecting some random gangster underling to have lightning fast reflexes. The boy was prepared for guns, but he hadn't quite antcipated getting slammed in the side of the head with one.

Pain exploded through his skull (he just knew that wasn't going to help his headache), stars dancing in his line of sight, he shook off the pain and was just about to Jackie Chan-kick the blunt object out of the man's hand when something jabbed into his back from behind, and then his entire body was freezing and tensing involuntarily, the hair on the back of his neck rising up.

His panic skyrocketed when he couldn't so much as twitch his fingertips.

Now, he had been tasered before in the past, and it certainly wasn't fun, but this was _different_.

Getting stunned by one had never hurt this bad in his _life_ , and the contact hadn't even been prolonged. Suddenly, dark spots flickering in front of his eyes, and he knew even before he lost consciousness that Batman was going to kill him for this, if Wally didn't do it first.

 _Definitely not feeling the aster._

* * *

 **Another short chapter, but it was taking forever to figure out how to word this. I apologize if it's crappy, but the next one should be better...I hope.**


	9. New Friend?

**All My Friends Are Superheroes**

 **Summary** : Being a teenaged hero is no walk in the park; juggling school, homework, superpowers, friends and family can be tough, especially when you and your secret boyfriend are tiptoeing around teammates, parents and mentors. However, sometimes in life you have to just stop worrying, and let the stones fall where they may. It might not be that bad, after all. Season 1. AU/OOC. Birdflash.

 **Point Of View** : Third person's POV, set in past tense/story format, with dreams/thoughts italicized. The focus will mainly be on Robin and Kid Flash, of course, but I fully plan to further explore their interactions with the team, and also with their JLA mentors. Story starts after the team has been established, right after the end of their first official mission together.

* * *

 _"True friendship comes when the silence between two people is comfortable." - David Tyson Gentry_

* * *

When Robin came to, he immediately knew something wasn't right.

He awoke in a sitting position, propped up against a metal pole incased in concrete, his head throbbing violently, not to mention his throat ached - his whole body did, actually, though that didn't surprise him as much considering it was a well known side effect of the flu. What did bother him was that his balance was... _off_.

The raven-haired boy quickly figured out why that was when he attempted to stand, only to find his arms had been tightly restrained behind the pole; handcuffed.

Frowning, he wriggled his fingers, and discovered that his gloves were missing.

So was his utility belt.

 _Crap. The others are going to kill me._

It was annoying to realize that Wally was right, he _shouldn't_ have entered the building, especially not alone. He may have had no trouble going through the vents, but why hadn't he heard the two men sneaking up on him when he'd been searching the office? The only conclusion he could come to was that his illness had dulled his senses more than he'd initially thought.

Taking a deep breath in an attempt to quell the nausea rolling through the pit of his stomach, he tried to keep calm so he could take a look at his surroundings.

He was in a dimly lit room, no surprise there.

Why couldn't criminals, even the really rich ones, seem afford prisons with _proper_ lighting anyways?

It was obviously the basement of the hotel, considering there weren't any windows in sight, and it was rather damp and dungeon-like: Icy cold floors? Check. Lightbulb hanging from the ceiling? Check. Overall creepy vibe? Check. You practically had to go out of your way to create a cliché _this_ bad.

"Alright, Robin," The young teen muttered to himself as he leaned against the pole, hoping to alleviate some of the strain on his shoulders from having his arms pulled back so far. "Gotta think of a plan. How do I bust out of here?"

Now, the raven-haired boy wasn't easily startled, he had been trained by the Batman, after all...

"You can't."

...But when strange voices suddenly addressed him out of freakin' _nowhere_ , he tended to get a _little_ bit startled. He probably would have jumped a foot into the air had he not been handcuffed.

Robin's head snapped in the direction of the sound so fast that he gave himself whiplash, causing him to wince at the sharp pain that went through his neck, "Who's there?" he demanded, keeping his tone calm and neutral, on guard, just in case.

He heard a soft shuffling sound, and then a figure moved into the (little) light, allowing him to get a proper view.

What, or rather _who_ , he saw came as a bit of a surprise.

It was a...boy.

Not a thug, or a kidnapper or someone he had been preparing himself for, but a young boy no older than he was. He was slim, and almost ghostly in appearance; skin extremely pale - Robin might have guessed albino, but he couldn't be certain - with shaggy snow white hair and dark slate gray eyes, underlined by sharp bags. He was barefoot and wearing thin cotton pyjamas, which looked like they should have been white, but were kind of dirty and seemed more beige-ish to him.

The thing that stood out the most, though, other than his slightly unusual coloring, was the stark black choker with a row of red lights around the boy's neck, the sight of which made the Boy Wonder's eyes widen.

Why would human traffickers have a Metahuman child as their prisoner? Was he intended to be their "merchandise"? If so, how had they gotten their hands on state of the art equipment like the inhibitor collars used at Belle Reve Penitentiary?

Either way, he didn't like what it could possibly mean.

"Who are you?" Robin asked, shifting against the metal pole, trying (rather hopelessly) to get more comfortable.

The white-haired boy stared at him for a moment, and then slowly moved to sit on the ground, his right leg folded beneath him and the other one pulled up against his chest. He rested his chin on his knee, seeming to contemplate the young superhero for a moment, "I could ask you the same thing. But I already know, so I will answer. My name is Near."

Frowning slightly, the brunette eyed the other prisoner, "You've heard of me, huh?" Not a big surprise, really. The Dynamic Duo were often seen on the news together. Near... That name sounded like an alias if he'd ever heard one.

"No, I haven't." The boy, Near, inclined his head slightly, "But I still know. You're Richard John Grayson. Born on the twentieth of March in the year 1997 to a nomadic Romani-American couple, John and Mary Grayson. They were murdered by a mobster named Anthony Zucco when you were nine years old, afterwards you were taken in by a man named Bruce Wayne."

Instantly, Robin's entire body tensed up, despite the discomfort his position caused, and he was on high alert. Shock made his heart race in his chest. A number of ideas on how to respond came to mind, most of them including denial, pretending he had no idea what the other kid was talking about, but - and it could have been the fever he could feel coming back - he just didn't have it in him. "How?" He asked, simply, his voice was wary, eyes flickering around anxiously.

As if guessing his thoughts, the albino told him, "There are no cameras in this room." If that was his way of trying to reassure Robin, he failed miserably. "As for how I know..." he pointed to the collar around his neck, "This device is not adjusted to me specifically, but to those with attributes that could aid in escape, such as speed and strength or offensive abilities like pyrokinesis. My power allows me to know things."

Huh... that sort of made sense. So the kid was like a telepath that could pluck memories from his mind or something?

Still unnerving, but he was relieved to know that he wasn't the only one stuck down here that could handle himself if Red Arrow and Kid Flash couldn't get in.

 _Wait a second._

"If the collar doesn't work on you, then why haven't you escaped?"

Near's dark eyes seemed to shine with some sort of amusement, but his face was still turned down into an impassive, nearly unblinking stare. "I am an intellectual, not a fighter. These men have taken precautions to keep anyone from escaping."

Okay, so he was going to need a another plan.

Still... if this guy knew anything about what they were up against, he could use all the help he could get, and that prompted him to ask, "Such as?"

The white-haired boy pointed at the door behind him, "Deadbolt and magnetic locks. Steel and titanium over wood doors with foam and rubber padding the inside. Bullet and laser resistant." He tapped his bare foot on the ground, "Elevated floors with insulation underneath. Every room on this floor is sound proof."

Well, that shot any idea he had at that moment _straight to hell_.

"Any chance you have something that could help us pick a lock on you?" He questioned, cautiously optimistic.

Near gazed blankly back at him.

"Great," Robin muttered, slumping against the pole, "Okay. New plan. We wait until someone unlocks the doors and comes into the room, you goad them into coming close enough so I can kick them in the face, we'll get the key off them to unlock my cuffs, get out of here so I can call for backup, and then come back for the prisoners." It sounded better in his head but it was really the only idea he had at the moment.

"You don't need to do any of that. My friends are already inside. Yours will be here soon, too. Everything ends within the next two days."

Wait... _what?_

Robin's eyes snapped back to the other teen, disbelief coloring his tone when he spoke again, "You mean you have friends _inside_ the building already, and they haven't come to help you yet?"

"Yes." Near paused, before adding, "I am not concerned, however. I have been here for two weeks. They were planning on stopping the trafficking ring themselves, and when I was taken, they decided to intergrate with the mobsters instead of confront them immediately, to find out what they were up against."

That was pretty smart, actually. It didn't mean the Boy Wonder had to like it, though. If he were in the albino boy's place, there was no way his friends would ever let him stay captive willingly for the sake of an undercover mission. Not to mention what Batman would have thought of such an idea. It would probably give his mentor a coronary.

"So..." Robin sighed, figuring he may as well get used to being stuck where he was for the moment, "You apparently know who I am, but I still don't know who you really are. Near's obviously not your actual name. That's not really fair. Care to share?"

He didn't expect the white-haired teen to actually respond to that, he seemed rather...odd.

Near was silent for a moment, before he said, "My name is Nate River." He finally stated, after an unbearably long period of quiet, then added, "The alias is made up of the first and second letter of my given and surname, with the E and the A switched. I prefer not to use my old name, though."

Huh. Interesting.

"I was originally born in Songkhla, a mountainous city in southern Thailand, but I lived in an orphanage in Winchester, England from the time I was five years old until I was fifteen, that is when I came to the United States with Mello and Matt after they decided to run away together. We were living in Los Angeles up until my capture."

Robin's heart sank in his chest...

The other boy was an orphan too? Not only that, but he had apparently been one for most of his life. That was seriously not right. It seemed like they had that in common, along with having a secret-identity-of-sorts. It felt like that fact was really personal to talk about, though, so he brought up the other thing that had stuck out in Near's sentence, "Wait! You said you've been here since you were fifteen?" At the boy's nod, he blurted, "How old are you now?"

The kid looked like he was _younger_ than Robin, how the hell could he be _years_ _older?_

"Same age as when I left," Near responded, tracing what appeared to be a tic-tac-toe board in the dirt on the floor, "Fifteen. Do you want to play Xs and Os?"

This was so freaking _weird_ , and yet at the same time, Robin felt oddly comforted by the fact that he wasn't the only one trapped in this place, even if it seemed like Near could try to leave if he wanted, and chose not to because of his friends' plan.

He hoped this wasn't some sort of trick by his captors to try and get him to bond with another person so he'd be more likely to give up secrets about Batman and the League...

But, then again, this kid knew his identity - his _real_ identity - so if he even was a bad guy, he could have easily just told whoever was in charge his name, it didn't take a genius to put the pieces together from there. Four years ago Dick Grayson was just a normal kid. Anyone who knew that could figure out that Bruce Wayne, his guardian, _had_ to be the Batman.

"Um, how about... Rs and Ns, instead?" He suggested, and Near blinked over at him, before his mouth moved slightly. It took Robin a moment to realize the kid had nearly _smiled_ , which shouldn't have seemed strange, but considering they were locked in a basement and the white-haired boy appeared to be rather stoic, it was kind of a surprise.

He got the feeling that this "Nate River" didn't smile too often.

"Alright. You first." The boy said softly, leaning over the homemade game board. "I will draw for you, just tell me where."

Robin shrugged, and regretted it deeply when the tugging caused another jolt of pain, "Lower right corner?"

Giving a slight nod, Near proceeded to draw a large R into the dust with his finger, before staring intensely at the ground as he contemplated what move he should make for himself.

In the end, he chose to make his first move by taking the space in the _upper_ right corner.

As juvenile as it felt, Robin found himself smiling slightly as he picked the middle square for his second turn. It was at least a good distraction, taking his mind off of both the situation and the queasiness he was still feeling.

The game was intense for something so silly and simple: Near made his second turn the upper left corner, prompting Robin to take the center top space to prevent him from winning. The white-haired boy then mimicked him by using the bottom middle space so that _Robin_ wouldn't win. The brunette chose the middle right-side, leaving the older boy to pick one of the two last options, of which he of course picked the left of the center row, leaving them with a tie.

But the two boys didn't stop there. They played a dozen or so more rounds, almost always ending in a cat's game, before they got bored and decided to make the game harder, by connecting nine of the nine-squared-boards together. Because of the size they agreed that getting four or more in a row meant a win, but diagonal rows didn't count.

It was more fun and a lot more intense.

Unfortunately, they never got to finish it, because about halfway through, the sound of locks clicking got their attention.

Robin noticed the white-haired boy tense slightly, and he somehow knew the albino had already figured out who it was, "What's happening?" he asked, already back on edge.

Shaking his head, Near quickly erased the board with his pyjama sleeve and began to back away from the door, "Just don't tell them anything." He told him, seriously, "Don't argue, taunt or goad them, and don't play into their hands. If you give them what they want, they'll kill you right away. But they'll only hurt you if you talk back. Don't make it fun for them."

What was he _talking_ about?

"I don't understand," Robin said, looking nervously at the other boy, who seemed somewhat freaked out at the moment, even though he was doing a pretty good job of hiding it.

Near shook his head again, keeping his voice low, "No time to explain. The woman... she's the brains behind it, but _don't_ underestimate the man. They're both dangerous, he is more violent, but she is more manipulative. Don't let them get in your head, and you should be okay." He hesitated, considering something for a moment, "You should also know that he is a-"

Just then the heavy door swung open, and a tall, imposing figure blocked what small bit of light was in the room.

"Hello, Robin, I'm so _glad_ to finally meet you."

* * *

 **Dun dun duh!**

 **Another short chapter, but I'm finally back in my writing groove, which means the next one should be along before the weekend! Things are starting to get exciting! Do you want to read more about Roy and Wally, or do you like having the focus on Robin?**

 **Oh, and just in case anyone's confused, I changed Dick's** **birthday back to the first day of Spring, because I like the significance of his mother nicknaming him her "little robin." I decided that maybe December 1st could just be a fake birthday for Robin to those who don't know his identity. This also meant I had to change the year he was born (it was 1996, now it is 1997, so he could still be thirteen when the story began). I should have mentioned that earlier. I also changed Wally's birthday back to the usual one celebrated (due to a DC calendar with birthdates or something like that), so his real birthdate is January 16th, 1995. The two met when they were ten/nearly eleven and thirteen, respectively.**

 **If you're actually reading any of this, that technically means Robin's family was murdered ten days after he turned nine.**

 **Harsh, ain't it?**


	10. Mind Games

**All My Friends Are Superheroes**

 **Summary** : Being a teenaged hero is no walk in the park; juggling school, homework, superpowers, friends and family can be tough, especially when you and your secret boyfriend are tiptoeing around teammates, parents and mentors. However, sometimes in life you have to just stop worrying, and let the stones fall where they may. It might not be that bad, after all. Season 1. AU/OOC. Birdflash.

 **Point Of View** : Third person's POV, set in past tense/story format, with dreams/thoughts italicized. The focus will mainly be on Robin and Kid Flash, of course, but I fully plan to further explore their interactions with the team, and also with their JLA mentors. Story starts after the team has been established, right after the end of their first official mission together.

* * *

 _"Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars." - Khalil Gibran_

* * *

Robin gazed silently across the room at the man.

It had been at least half an hour since the guy had put a second pair of handcuffs on the Boy Wonder so he could remove the ones that were binding him to the pole, before roughly dragging him out of the room and down a long, freezing cold hallway.

Against his better judgement, the brunette had listened to Near's advice and not fought him.

For one, he had no idea where to go if he got away, or how many armed goons were lingering around that would just be itching to put a bullet in him. Still, he couldn't help but wish he'd had a better plan than just going with what his maybe-new-ally had said.

Especially considering he was now bound to an uncomfortable wooden chair in an empty room, having a staring contest with the six-foot-something guy who was honestly giving him a bad vibe from the way he was _standing_ there.

Watching him.

It was unnerving for some reason he couldn't quite figure out.

He definitely _looked_ like mafia, but as he had yet to say a word, Robin couldn't place exactly what organization these people were a part of. He was dark haired and dark eyed, in his mid to late thirties, had tanned skin and the shadow of a beard on his face, dressed in jeans, heavy boots and a battered bomber jacket. No visible tattoos anywhere, which meant that he wouldn't have much luck just guessing who he was affiliated with.

Robin had a feeling the man's lack of ink was for that reason exactly.

The room they were in now looked largely the same as the other one, except this one had no steel-and-concrete pole, just a chair in the center of it. It was obviously used for interrogation purposes.

He wished he knew what time it was... How long had he been in this place? Were the others worrying about him? Had they gone to get help, or were they trying to figure out a way inside without getting caught? The young boy hated feeling helpless.

Robin eventually couldn't take the silence anymore, and blurted out, "Okay, so I can see that you aren't exactly the chatty type, but could you at least tell me _what_ exactly we're waiting for?"

The man narrowed his eyes at the bound boy, still not speaking.

A few minutes of excruciatingly boring silence passed, and the mafia guy suddenly straightened his back, uncrossing his arms and slowly making his way over to the teen, causing him to tense slightly, his defenses still up. To his surprise, the man looked at him seriously, and spoke, " _Who_."

"Huh?" Robin twitched, hearing a hint of an accent in that one word.

Exhaling impatiently, the man told him, " _Who_ we are waiting for. Not _what_." Definitely a Russian dialect. Were these people Bratva? "The Kohzyayka. She arrive shortly. You tell her everything she asks and show proper respect, we let you go. Simple."

Right, like he was going to believe a human trafficker would just _let him go_.

Struggling to sit forward in his restraints, the brunette questioned, "And... if I don't?" his tone was challenging, trying to get a read on the man.

He nearly yelped when the Russian grabbed a fistful of his hair and yanked his head back, exposing his throat. The other hand wrapped around his neck, fingers squeezing. Robin's eyes widened as his breath was briefly cut off, his hands jerking in his restraints, a pained whine escaping his lips as he tried not to wither under the piercing glare the man leveled on him as he leaned close, and whispered harshly, "You _will_ show respect or else..."

The threat did not need to be finished, but the excited tone told him that this guy was hoping he would try something, just so he could make good on it.

At that moment, the door opened and the Russian quickly released his hair and stepped away from Robin, giving him just enough time to recover, gasping for air, as he looked to see who had entered the room.

It was a woman, just like the man had said. She was a little on the shorter side, he supposed, but still significantly taller than him. Long, straight pale blonde hair, the color of cornsilk, framed her heart-shaped face, and steely gray eyes trained on him from the moment that she stepped through the doorframe.

Robin guessed she would be considered pretty, but with her serious expression and the way she held herself, all he saw was an enemy. Her attire made her seem rather...lethal, even if he didn't know what _Kohzyayka_ was supposed to mean; tall stiletto boots, dark blue slim jeans, a leathery black turtleneck-jacket ensemble. Hanging from her neck was a small golden infinity-knot pendant.

She made her way across the room with purpose, and paused when she was less then a foot from Robin, reaching for him, and he shrunk back when her fingers brushed the side of his head, hissing when pain flared around the area.

A scowl appeared on her ruby-stained lips. "Eto ty sdelal?" She demanded, throwing a look over her shoulder as she confirmed that they were Russian, even though he'd been fairly certain already.

It took Robin a moment to realize that she wasn't talking to _him_ , but the guy who had been watching him. Even as she inspected his head injury, which had been acquired when one of the men that caught him had pistol-whipped him, her eyes never left his face.

The man immediately shook his head, but didn't say anything.

Frowning slightly, she turned stepped away from the raven-haired teen, examining him further, and gave him a sweet smile that he immediately found suspicious, remembering Near's words from earlier. "Izvineniya. The underlings can be quite rough at times, I'm sure they did not intend to hurt you too badly."

Robin was fairly certain they _had_ intended to hurt him. After all, he didn't have fingerprint-shaped bruises on his arms by _accident_ , and judging from the way the woman kept glaring in the general direction of the man in the room, she knew that, too.

"Also, this is all a misunderstanding, yes?" She patted his knee in a would-be comforting gesture, but mostly it just annoyed him. Plus it seemed kind of patronizing. He wasn't naïve, he knew what they were doing and that there was no way he would be let go after what he'd learned about their operation. "We will work everything out now and then I will let you leave, simple as that."

The Boy Wonder pondered over whether or not this was some kind of twist on Good Cop/Bad Cop. With the mafia guy playing the "intimidating quiet one" and her playing the "sympathetic nice one".

Whatever it was, he wouldn't fall for it.

"Now, I understand from my American associates that you are... Geroy?" She seemed unsure for a moment, and he figured that she musn't have been in the States for very long. Her English was rough, she had a thick accent, and she looked to be in her early twenties. She had probably lived in Russia for most of her life.

Instead of responding, not knowing what the word even meant, he merely looked blankly at her.

Frowning again at his lack of reply, her eyebrows creased, "Are you related to the boys we caught earlier?"

Robin visibly tensed when he heard that, but kept his expression schooled.

"The ones in the red and yellow? They sent you to watch us, yes? You are too young to be behind it. They do not talk either. Well... the strange one talks, a lot. The bowman mostly curses. But they would not answer our questions, not even when Pyotr used force." She paused, clearly gauging his reaction.

He really didn't want to give her anything she could work with, but knowing that Roy and Wally had been captured and were being _interrogated_ by mobsters really was a disturbing thought.

They weren't like him. Green Arrow and Flash were pretty laid back when compared to Batman. He highly doubted either of his friends had learned how to cope with intense situations like what they were currently facing. Would they be able to hold out giving up info, even if they were tortured?

Learning this only made him more determined not to give up anything useful. He had to keep his mouth shut until help arrived. Near said his friends would rescue them within two days time... but he never said _which_ friends it would be. Perhaps they had contacted the League before getting inside.

Either way, Robin knew that whatever game they were playing, or threat this lady and her henchmen made against him, it would be ineffective.

He was not telling them _anything_.

"Did your partner send you?" The woman asked him after a few seconds of silence. He just looked at her, and she frowned at his lack of reply.

She was wary of him... that was good.

If these guys thought that Batman sent the three of them, maybe it would make them less likely to hurt them. The Dark Knight had quite the reputation, after all. Anyone that had messed with Robin, or kids in general, tended to get what was coming to them. Human traffickers and people who abducted children were pure scumbags in his opinion - worse than drug dealers or murderers.

"How much do they know?"

He pressed his lips together tightly. They didn't know anything, only he did. But he wasn't about to share that tidbit with her. The longer he held out on giving up information, the longer it would take for him to outlive his usefulness, which meant buying more time before they killed him.

Despite his plan, when he didn't answer even one of the next handful of questions, she became increasingly more frustrated by his lack of cooperation. "Where is your partner right now?"

"How should I know? I'm here with you." Robin quipped, unable to help himself.

The woman's eyes flashed with anger, and she backhanded him across the face suddenly, sending pain blooming across his cheekbone, " _Naglyy rebenok!_ You _will_ tell me what I want to know!"

Lifting his head up, he glared at her with all defiance he could muster.

She slapped him again, with much more force than before, this time making his head snap to the side. A coppery taste filled his mouth.

Blood.

Robin grimaced in disgust, and spat the taste out of his mouth, meeting those cold gray eyes, refusing to show her any fear. It was difficult to keep his composure, though, especially when she pulled a hunting knife out of her pocket. Stainless steel, with a gut hook. The slight discoloration to the tip told him that it had been used before.

The Russian woman grabbed him by the front of his unifom, easily yanking him off of the ground, and spun them around, slamming him up against the nearest wall, hard enough that it knocked the breath out of him for a moment. She held the blade to his throat.

"I should cut you and your friends into small pieces!" She hissed at him, her tone was crisp and cool, but he could see the raw anger burning deep in her eyes. "See how the _Lapta_ feels about sending _Deti_ to do his dirty work when I mail your bodies back to him!"

Swallowing hard, and pressing himself as far back from the knife as possible, he managed to tell her, "If you kill us, it will only make him angry. Do you really want the entire Justice League raining hell down on your little organization when they decide to get even?"

A wary look appeared on her face, and despite the pain he had the urge to grin.

Mobsters weren't the only ones that knew how to play mind games.

Suddenly, the woman's eyes darkened, and before Robin could say anything else to keep her distracted, she plunged the knife into his right shoulder.

The thirteen-year-old couldn't help it, he screamed; a white hot pain seared through his upper arm and clavical. It was worse than the time he broke his ankle from landing wrong on it during a mission with Batman.

God, it hurt so _bad_.

"Tell me what the Justice League knows!" She snapped at him, and through his tears he could see not even a sliver of hesitation or remorse. This woman was psychopathic, and obviously had no problem with torturing kids to get information.

When he didn't reply quickly enough for her liking, she pushed the knife in deeper, and he let out a choked cry in response, "N-Nothing!" He finally gasped out, unable to take the agony, feeling angry at himself even as he answered. "They don't...even know that we're here..."

He hated showing signs of weakness, but he wanted the pain to _stop_ , preferably _before_ she shredded the muscles in his shoulder beyond repair. However, her glare indicated that she didn't believe him, even though it was absolutely the truth, they _didn't_ know.

"You _lie_." She twisted the blade.

"Stop it! I'm not. _Stop_. PLEASE!" Robin thrashed weakly, trying desperately to get out of her hold, the words were filled with desperation and anguish, an undertone of a sob clinging to the sentence. "It's the truth, I swear! M-My friends and I went without telling anyone!"

Eyeing him for a moment, the woman yanked the knife out, none-to-gently, but at this point his arm felt kind of numb. Hot, sticky blood was soaking through the Kevlar of his uniform, and the metallic scent made his head spin. She eventually let him go all together, allowing him to fall to the ground, nearly hitting his head off the floor in the process.

Hands still cuffed behind his back, he somehow forced himself to roll over onto his side, ignoring the sharp pangs it caused, looking over to see her speaking to the man he presumed was named Pyotr. "Prepodat yemu urok. No, delat _ne_ ubit yego."

The dark-haired man gave a slight nod, "Kak vy pozhelayesh, Anya."

Robin narrowed his eyes at that. _Anya?_ Was that the woman's name? If so, he needed to remember it for later.

A few seconds passed, and then she was gone, the door slamming shut behind her.

Pyotr slowly turned to him with a sadistic glint in his eyes that made the Boy Wonder's stomach tighten. Out of the two, he got a feeling this guy was the one who would take enjoyment out of his suffering.

Star City criminals weren't _quite_ as bad as the ones from Gotham, but it didn't mean they weren't still _dangerous_. He knew that, unlike the ones from Central City or Happy Harbor, these thugs had no qualms about beating people to death, even kids.

It became quite clear that this man was one of them when he delivered a swift kick to Robin's stomach, making him groan in pain as the force of it knocked him onto his back again, causing him to jostle his bleeding shoulder.

Robin was mentally cussing Pyotr out when he felt something sharp dig into the back of his hand. He frowned, wriggling his fingers and trying to figure out what it was, never taking his eyes off of the mobster that was stalking towards him again.

He was able to pick the small object up, and his eyes widened behind his mask, wondering if this was sheer luck.

 _A nail! I can get these stupid things off now!_

Small fingers closed around the nail, and the thirteen-year-old boy braced himself for the next sharp blow to his side, a whimper tearing from his throat as he felt the pain shoot up his torso. It hurt a lot, but he had been through worse already.

Besides, he couldn't let himself be distracted, he had to wait for just the right moment.

There was another kick, then another, and another. Soon his body was hurting _all over_. A crunching sound echoed through the room, Robin thought he heard someone cry out, and realized with shock that it had come from _him_. He definitely had a broken rib, or maybe several.

Batman was _definitely_ going to kill him.

Finally, the man stopped to catch his breath, a bead of sweat at his brow, and he smirked, "Not so stoic now, are you, little boy?"

Unable to reply even if he wanted to with how bad the pain was, Robin quickly became frustrated as his fingers clumsily worked at the handcuffs' lock with the nail; his hands were shaking, just making it all the more difficult. But eventually, he heard a tiny click, and the metal binding his wrists together clunked to the floor.

The moment Pyotr got ready to attack him again, Robin sprung to his feet - ignoring the way his ribs and arm throbbed in protest - and jumped at the man with a flying kick to the face. He grunted in pain, stumbling backwards as the boy landed unsteadily, the recent beating had left his body aching, and his balance was off.

After a few seconds, Pyotr shook off the blow, and lunged towards the teen, jabbing at him with his fists.

Robin managed to duck out of the way, and nailed the man in the gut with his knee, before twisting to the side in an attempt to get behind him, unfortunately he seemed to have quicker reflexes than the young hero had originally suspected, spinning around and slamming his fist into the boy's jaw, knocking him onto the ground again.

"Such a shame I had to bruise your pretty face..."

Grabbing the teenager by his hair, the Russian yanked Robin to his feet again, easily catching his fist when the brunette tried to strike him.

Pyotr smirked at the boy as he gripped his left wrist way too tightly, and with a twist of his fingers he snapped it, drawing a scream from Robin as a torturous shockwave of pain pierced through the now broken limb, but the mobster still didn't let go of it. Instead, he used his hold on the boy to throw him into the wall.

The man brutally slammed him into it, over and over again, causing black spots to dance across Robin's vision. He was gasping in pain; wheezing, actually. He was choking on his own air, more blood pooling in his mouth, and his brain felt fuzzy. He could only hope like hell his lungs hadn't been punctured by a broken rib.

By the time the Russian finally released him, the Boy Wonder couldn't even stand, and collapsed on the floor.

He made no move to get up, didn't think he could even if he tried. Blood was pounding in his ears, and he vaguely thought he heard arguing, but he couldn't get his brain to _focus_.

The last thing he saw before passing out was a blur hovering over him.

 _...W-Wally...?_

* * *

 ** _"Recognized: Batman; 02."_**

No one needed to say anything to the Dark Knight for him to realize that something was very wrong.

The fact that the team had made several (unsuccessful) attempts to contact him that evening already set warning bells off in his head.

He could tell by the looks on Aqualad's and Green Arrow's faces that something had happened. Superboy looked as brooding as ever, but there was a hint of concern on his face. Artemis was visibly upset, pacing back and forth. No sign of Miss Martian or Kid Flash, though.

Shouldn't they all be asleep by now?

Honestly, Batman had intended to go to Mount Justice after work anyways. It was extremely late, but he wanted to check on Robin before heading back home, for Alfred's peace of mind as well as his own. The teen had been showing signs of recovery earlier that day.

It was going for midnight, and he had planned to just take a quick trip to the medical bay, but unease filled him when he saw them all just standing there, clearly having been waiting for him.

"What happened?" he demanded to know, the second he'd joined them.

They didn't speak for a moment, looking at each other uncertainly. Finally, it was Kaldur who stepped forward, "Kid Flash and Robin are missing."

Batman froze.

It wasn't the first time this had happened, but that didn't mean hearing the words was any easier. No, it sent a wave of terror rushing through him, but he somehow managed to force it down long enough to ask, _"How?"_

Aqualad hesitated, and looked to Green Arrow, as if for guidance.

It didn't escape his notice that the blonde man was looking anywhere but right at him, the guilt coming from the archer was palpable. "It's my fault, Batman. I should have cleared it with you first. If I had known anything like this might have happened I never would have-"

"Spit it out, Arrow!" He gritted his teeth, wondering what Queen had done to put his boy in danger. " _What. Happened?_ "

Green Arrow grimaced, rubbing the back of his neck. "I, uh, I sent Kid Flash over to Roy's place, see if he could convince him to join the team. Knowing him, he probably refused. But ever since he started doing the solo thing, he'd been going on a lot of stakeouts. KF probably would have tagged along. But I guess Miss Martian accidentally let it slip to Robin that Kid was going on a "secret mission." He apparently snuck out using one of the Zetas to get off the mountain."

Batman wanted to be pissed off at Oliver, he really did. Not because he sent KF on a "mission" without saying anything, since it hardly counted as one, but because Robin followed him without anyone noticing. He couldn't be angry though, because the archer couldn't have predicted something like this happening.

He considered asking how they knew that the boys were missing, when it occured to him that they'd only mentioned Kid Flash and Robin, "Where's Red Arrow, then?"

Something spasmed across Oliver's face, and he turned away.

"He's, um, in the medical bay..." Artemis offered quietly, picking at a loose strand of her hair, "He's pretty out of it. Miss Martian and Soothsayer are trying to pull a location out of his brain."

"Soothsayer?" Batman frowned.

The team exchanged frowns at his tone, "Yeah, you know, Black Canary's new apprentice?"

"I'm going to go check on Roy," Green Arrow announced suddenly, before heading towards the medical wing. The Caped Crusader followed after him, but instead of questioning him, he decided to see what was happening for himself.

When they entered the room, Batman couldn't quite conceal his (slightly horrified) reaction to Roy Harper's appearance.

He'd obviously been savagely beaten, bruises marking large portions of his pale skin. Bandages were covering most what the eighteen-year-old's uniform didn't, and his left arm was in a cast. Standing over him was M'gann; the Martian girl's eyes were glowing, a hand resting on the redhead's cheek.

Her other hand was grasping a caramel-colored one, and he only then noticed the stranger in the room. A teenage girl, Indian, with her face hidden underneath a pink and gold silk hood, her expression one of deep concentration. Apparently noticing his expression, Green Arrow said, "Soothsayer is a psychic, like M'gann. They thought if they worked together it would be easier to find out where Robin and Kid Flash are."

Eventually, as if sensing their presence, Miss Martian and the new girl (he was going to have a talk with Black Canary about this) snapped out of their trance-like state.

Pushing her hood back, M'gann looked at them, "They are in Star City, at the Black Orchid hotel. Robin followed Red Arrow and Kid Flash from Roy's apartment and insisted on helping find out information on what appeared to be a drug selling organization. He went through the air vents. When he failed to come out they took out two armed guards by one of the doors and snuck inside, only to be ambushed and knocked unconscious by several more. When they woke up, they were locked in a room."

She took a deep breath, a worried expression on her face, "A man and woman proceeded to interrogate them about what they knew, and about the Justice League, beating them both when they refused to cooperate. Wally's got an inhibitor collar on, but Roy managed to free himself and agreed to get help. These aren't just gangsters, they're Russian mafia. They're dealing with weapons and drug trading, kidnapping, blackmail, extortion, and...human trafficking."

Batman felt his lip curl in disgust at hearing that. He saw Oliver clench his fists, fury written across his face. He understood why, this was happening in his city, and his former sidekick was in a critical condition...

It only made the parent in the Dark Knight even more worried for his boy.

Becoming the adoptive father and mentor to a prepubescent, orphaned and traumatized former acrobat had been no easy task. He freely admitted that Bruce Wayne had felt, even at the best of times, ill-equipped to handle taking care of someone like Dick Grayson.

After his own parents were murdered, he had never planned on becoming a father himself. Not only couldn't he bear the thought of bringing a child into a world already so severely screwed up, but the idea of losing someone he loved again was something he didn't think he could take.

That was one of many reasons why he didn't end up in relationships lasting more than a few weeks. If anyone were to find out his true identity...

Still, he never regretted taking the young bird under his wing. Even if Dick's transition to life outside of the circus had not been quick, it was still worth it when he saw how the child brought life back into the manor. He took to becoming Robin with the same fluidity and grace as he took to performing on the trapeze at Haly's.

Despite all of the happiness the boy had brought back that he'd thought was lost forever, there were a handful of times that reminded him why he had never settled down with his own family. Events flashed through his mind that had been so gut-wrenchingly fear-inducing, it made him wonder when he began to think of the acrobat as his own son.

The first time he had felt true fear for the boy was probably when he couldn't find Dick in his bed one evening, and the worst case scenarios went through his mind. It turned out he had been cold, and opted to sleep downstairs by the fireplace. Bruce had Alfred turn the heat up in the evenings after that. There was also that terrible day in September, just a few months after the adoption had been finalized. The private middle school he was enrolling Dick in had called and informed him that, from the boy's scarce medical records, they learned the Graysons had never taken him to get a shot. He couldn't fault them for it, they were travellers and health care was expensive. He did the responsible thing by taking the boy to the doctor. No one could have predicted the nine-year-old suffering a severe allergic reaction to the Hepatitis A vaccination that would result in hospitalization.

Other times also included the summer the ten-year-old had fallen off of the diving board at the pool and hit his head, or when he was eleven and had been beaten to within an inch of his life by a maniac (Two-Face) while Batman could only watch in helpless horror...

They were all haunting memories.

But the absolute worst moments were the (multiple) times when Dick, either as himself or as Robin, had ended up getting himself captured. Someone kidnapping him to get to Bruce Wayne, or someone taking him to get to Batman. Those were the incidents that had frightened him most of all. He had begun to understand what it meant to be a father. That fear, when his son was out of his sight, somewhere scared and possibly hurt, with him having no way of knowing where he was or if he was even still alive, had been the most... _paralyzing_.

And now it was happening again.

Robin was already sick, which meant he wouldn't be in the best condition to fight anyone off. Kid Flash would be his only backup in the entire building, with his Metahuman speed being restricted, and the odds of them both being okay by the time they were found wasn't too great. Not to mention, just looking at Roy told him all he needed to know about what kind of people they were dealing with.

All he could do now was get to them, and hope he was on time.

 _Hang in there, Dick, I'm coming for you._

* * *

 **A/N: I don't claim to know anything about the mafia, of any kinds, which is why I didn't specify an exact sub-group here, and made up my own "organization" for the bad guys. Both the man and woman (Anya and Pyotr) are my own original characters, btw.**

 **English/Russian Translations:**

 **Khozyayka - Mistress**

 **Eto ty sdelal? - Did you do that?**

 **Izvineniya - Apologies**

 **Geroy - Hero**

 **Naglyy rebenok! - Insolent child!**

 **Lapta - Bat**

 **Deti - Children**

 **Prepodat yemu urok. No, ne ubit yego. - Teach him a lesson. But, do _not_ kill him.**

 **Kak vy pozhelayesh. - As you wish.**


	11. Fevered

**All My Friends Are Superheroes**

 **Summary** : Being a teenaged hero is no walk in the park; juggling school, homework, superpowers, friends and family can be tough, especially when you and your secret boyfriend are tiptoeing around teammates, parents and mentors. However, sometimes in life you have to just stop worrying, and let the stones fall where they may. It might not be that bad, after all. Season 1. AU/OOC. Birdflash.

 **Point Of View** : Third person's POV, set in past tense/story format, with dreams/thoughts italicized. The focus will mainly be on Robin and Kid Flash, of course, but I fully plan to further explore their interactions with the team, and also with their JLA mentors. Story starts after the team has been established, right after the end of their first official mission together.

* * *

 _"True love makes the thought of death frequent, easy, without terrors; it merely becomes the standard of comparison, the price one would pay for many things." - Stendhal_

* * *

When Robin began to wake up, he was surprised that he didn't feel much pain.

The last thing he remembered was getting stabbed, beaten, and slammed repeatedly against a wall until he blacked out. Having only mild discomfort from that was probably a bad sign. Was he already dead? Dead people couldn't feel pain, probably. So maybe that would explain it...

He hoped that wasnt it, he didn't want to die.

At least not until he knew that Wally and Roy would be okay.

Opening his eyes, the teen winced as his vision was assaulted by migraine-inducing white-blue lights. They weren't even particularly bright, but his _head_. Okay, yeah, now he definitely had some pain, but not as much as he should have had with the extent of his wounds. It seemed like someone had given him something to keep him out, because his body felt heavy and sluggish.

He was laying on a bed, a rather uncomfortable one, and it looked to be some sort of infirmary-type ward. Mobsters seemed to think of everything... and yet they couldn't afford decent lights to put in their dungeons.

Turning his head to the side, Robin noticed that his wrist was in a splint. His shoulder felt like it had to have been patched up too. Frowning, he tried to reach up and touch it, only to find that he couldn't move his hands. There were padded, buckled restraints around both of his wrists, locking onto the metal bars of the bed.

Like in a mental hospital.

He grimaced slightly, a bit disturbed by the thought, and began tugging experimentally at the bondage. They didn't have any locks, but with each of his arms immobilized from some form of injury, he wouldn't be able to undo the straps by himself.

 _Great._

Whatever they had given him after he was knocked out had begun to wear off.

The pain was becoming more noticeable now.

Robin let out a huff of displeasure, only to immediately regret it when he burst into a sudden fit. Harsh, dry coughs wracked his small body, and left him panting for air afterwards. He groaned at the realization that his illness, which he had probably been nearly over, had made a reappearance, likely as a result of getting his ass kicked by that psycho.

"Well, don't you sound like crap."

A man's voice speaking up suddenly made him jerk in the bed, lifting his head up as best he could to see who it was. It sounded like it had come from across the room, and he strained his neck, frowning.

Footsteps.

"Don't hurt yourself, Kid."

Then someone came into view.

It was no one that Robin knew, of that he was sure. A boy around Roy's age stood there. He was tall, very slim yet muscular, with a light skin tone, and dark golden blonde hair that reached above his shoulders in a medium sort of bob, bangs falling into bright turquoise eyes. His slightly feminine features might have been misleading were it not for the deep voice.

At first, the Boy Wonder assumed he was another captive, until he noticed the boy's clothes, which consisted entirely of dark leather: low riding black leather pants, a cropped sleeveless red leather vest that exposed his midriff, and knee-high black platform combat boots. Hanging from around his neck was a rosary - a silver cross with red crystalline beads, there was a matching bracelet on his wrist.

 _Definitely one of them._

Robin's defenses instantly went up, and he lay there tensely, staring at the older teen with an unreadable expression.

 _If he comes anywhere near me, I'm kicking his teeth in._

"Cool it, Bird Brain," The blonde told him, causing the brunette to frown in annoyance at the nickname, and popped what appeared to be a piece of chocolate into his mouth. "I'm not gonna hurt you. The name's Mello."

Almost immediately, the thirteen-year-old calmed down somewhat. Mello. That was the name of one of Near's friends, the ones that were trying to bring down the trafficking ring from within. For some reason, he didn't expect the guy to be so...young. It made sense though, if he had just recently left an orphanage.

"Did you do this?" Robin asked, trying to gesture to himself, and making a frustrated sound when he couldn't move. The blonde nodded, "Yeah. Matt was the one that found you bleeding out on the basement floor, he brought you to me. Luckily there's no cameras _inside_ the building otherwise we'd all be fucked."

When Robin shot him a confused look, Mello rolled his eyes, "I know Near blabbed to you, Kid. Don't worry about the cuffs, it's just for appearance. Can't have the others wondering why I'm not making sure you can't get away. Who do you guys work for again?"

"The Justice League," Robin managed to croak out, his throat still sore and kind of scratchy from his earlier coughing fit.

"Great, that makes my job a whole lot easier. They'll probably send backup to get you all home. Just gotta make sure Anya and her goon squad don't take off before they get here..." The blonde frowned suddenly, as if remembering something, and crossed his arms, looking Robin over almost warily, "Hey, Kid... the guy that was with her, Pyotr, he didn't... touch you, did he?"

Robin tilted his head slightly in confusion, before he remembered the name, "Him? Of course he did! That psycho almost killed me - who did you _think_ did this?" His tone was perplexed now.

"No, I meant-never mind..." Mello shook his head, seeming relieved for some reason, "Look, you should probably get some more rest before your buddies show up, okay? I'll have Matt wake you when they get here. This crap'll all be over soon anyways." He hoped.

Sighing, the brunette didn't exactly want to take orders from this guy - or from anyone he didn't know, really - but he was kind of exhausted. His body ached and he just felt terrible in general.

There wasn't much he could do to help at the moment, especially in his condition.

Eventually he gave a slight nod, and let his suddenly heavy eyelids close, beginning to slip out of consciousness once more.

* * *

This really sucked.

Wally could count on one hand how many days he'd had that were worse than today. His body ached, not just from getting the crap kicked out of him earlier, but also because he wasn't healing. Sure, maybe being able to feel his bones mending back together rapidly wasn't pleasant, but sitting on the floor in pain was definitely the bigger evil.

Goddamn inhibitor collars.

The thing was so tight it was hard to breathe, and it prevented him from using his speed and his healing. Sure, his DNA had been permanently altered by his lab experiment, but his powers were still being suppressed. He could feel the excess energy building up inside, wanting out.

It tickled slightly.

Sitting there, curled up on the floor of some sleazy hotel basement, he could feel the pain wracking through his body. Admittedly, he was a bit scared. The crazy Russian guy had told him what they were going to do with him and Robin - sell them, like _slaves_. Because as much as he'd like to kill them, to human traffickers they were worth more alive than they were dead.

His words, not Wally's.

The redhead really hoped Roy had gotten to Mount Justice by now. The older teenager hadn't wanted to leave him alone, but a speedster with his powers being suppressed would have just slowed the archer down, so he told him to go, and to bring back help.

Fuck, it was cold down here. He really hoped Robin was somewhere warm, and that he was okay. The poor kid already had the flu, he really didn't need this shit going on too. The Metahuman had managed to hold out from saying anything when Mr. Big & Ugly was beating the crap out of him, but when the woman started asking him about Robin he'd snapped, and yelled at them to leave his friend the hell alone.

 _That_ had been a mistake, apparently the Russians were temperamental.

His split lip and black eye from that outburst were the least painful of his injuries, his entire torso was still throbbing, and he didn't even want to know what it looked like beneath his uniform. The only bright side to this was that, with the collar on, he could be sure his ribs wouldn't heal wrong before he could get some help.

Getting your bones re-broken because they decided to mend crookedly was not fun at all.

Wally really wished there was something he could do to get himself out of the situation, so he could go find Rob and get them the hell _out_. The Justice League could take care of these scumbags, he just wanted to make sure his best friend was alright.

Staring at the locked, reinforced steel door, a plan began to form in his mind.

He stood up, wincing slightly as he did so, and began to look around the boiler room he was currently locked in. Not much of use in the immediate vicinity... but that was when he noticed the pipes on the walls. Some of them were pretty old-looking, covered in rust.

Fingers crossed that it would work, Wally grabbed ahold of the smallest one and yanked at it with all of his might.

 _Hmm... Probably not the best plan, but it's the only one I've got._

Tightening his grip, he braced one of his feet against the wall and _pulled_.

 _CLANK!_

It broke off, and sent Wally tumbling to the ground, but when he shook away the momentary daze, he glanced down and saw the rusted pipe on the ground beside him.

"Yes!"

The speedster quickly got to his feet and plastered himself against the wall, next to the door, and prepared himself for a long wait.

Luckily, he didn't have to wait too long, because less than an hour later, a click indicated the door being unlocked.

 _Brace yourself, West._

The door opened, and Wally lunged, rising the makeshift weapon above his head, "HIYAH!" He brought it down hard, inwardly grinning when the pipe connected with something, and a groan echoed through the room, knocking the guy who just came in off of his feet. He hit him again, this time over the top of the head, careful not to put too much force behind it.

It managed to knock him out.

Sighing in relief, the redhead quickly searched the dude. A gun - he tossed it into the corner of the room, not comfortable with taking it. No keys, except the one to the boiler room.

Darn it.

Wally left the guy face down on the floor, locking the door behind him so it wouldn't draw any unwanted attention, and began to tip-toe throughout the basement, not exactly sure where he was meant to go from there. His number one priority was finding Robin, and getting the heck out.

* * *

Someone was shaking him.

Even in a fevered state, it managed to pull Robin out of his restless sleep. After Mello had assured him it would all be over soon, he wasn't able to stay asleep, not really. He felt dizzy and nauseated, not to mention way too warm to be comfortable - his costume was clinging uncomfortably to his flushed skin.

"Wake up," a rough voice spoke above him, and he was shaken again.

Opening his eyes, he found it difficult to focus, but forced himself to anyways, meeting a pair of dark brown eyes. Hope blossomed in his chest for a moment. _Bruce...?_ Then the picture cleared, and he realized the man that was man gripping his arms too-tightly was _not_ his adoptive father.

It was Pyotr.

"You..." Robin rasped, his dry throat aching. That was when he noticed his arms were free from the restraints. "What-"

He heard a click near his ear, and something cold being pressed hard against the side of his head.

The barrel of a gun.

Robin froze, and he saw the Russian man's lips twist into a wicked grin, "We're leaving, little boy." Pyotr's hand wrapped around his good wrist, yanking him off of the hospital bed, and he hissed as pain ran up the length of his arm.

"Fight me and I put a bullet right between your eyes, I don't give a shit _who_ you work for." He started dragging the teenaged hero along, pulling him out of the medical room. The brunette was unsteady on his feet, and he was still having trouble keeping his eyes open, causing him to stumble, "Hurry up!" The mobster snapped.

The Boy Wonder scowled in response, couldn't the guy tell he was sick? Well, he probably didn't really care. It occured to him that he should maybe try to fight back, but the man was huge and armed, meanwhile Robin was nearly delirious from illness, and missing all of his weapons, not to mention injured. Being hauled up a staircase when he could barely stand just topped off the awfulness of the situation.

He wished this day would end already.

Just then, they were nearing the exit, and the guards seemed to have mysteriously vanished. He wondered if someone had already taken them out, or if Pyotr had ordered them to leave. That was when he noticed several unconscious bodies on the ground. Huh, that answered that question. He was about to ask where they were supposed to be going, when a flash of color caught the corner of his eye; yellow.

 _Wally!_

The speedster spotted them, and started running, anger burning in his eyes. But something was off, and - _oh God_ , Robin felt shock wash over him as he took in the appearance of his friend. Bruised and battered, a collar around his neck. He looked even worse off than the brunette.

Pyotr stiffened beside him, hearing the footsteps, and the thirteen-year-old felt his heart pound, he opened his mouth to warn his friend about the gun currently jammed in the mobster's pocket, which he clearly couldn't see or he wouldn't be racing at full human speed for them.

"KID FLASH! LOOK OUT!"

Wally skidded to a halt just as the Russian spun around and aimed the pistol, a single bullet tore through the air - sounding like a broomstick handle being snapped in half - piercing the redhead right through the chest, the impact knocking him off of his feet.

He didn't cry out as he was shot or stumble backwards like in the movies, he merely dropped to the ground in a heap.

Silence enveloped the room.

The teenaged superhero known as Robin was frozen where he stood, his blue eyes stretched open wide in sheer horror from behind his mask as bright, crimson blood began to pool around the now motionless form of his best friend.

 _No. NO! KF!_

"C'mon!" Pyotr tightened his grip painfully on the boy's arm, kicking open the hotel doors, and pulling him through. "Let's go, bat brat!"

 _Wally, please, get up! Open your eyes! WALLY!_

Apparently getting sick of dragging the now shell-shocked teenager, the mobster turned to him with a sneer when they were in the parking lot, and suddenly lunged forward and wrapped his arm around the boy's neck, pinning him against his much stronger body.

Robin started thrashing when his breathing was cut off, clawing at the man's arms, but he couldn't break the sleeper hold even temporarily. He soon became light headed, and his struggles lessened until he eventually lost consciousness all together, despair and fear dominanting his thoughts.

 _Wally..._

* * *

The scene that Batman and several members of the Justice League burst in on when they entered the lobby of the Black Orchid hotel was not at all what they were expecting.

Over a dozen armed guards were unconscious on the floor, by the looks of it, they'd been knocked out cold with a blunt object, if the blood and bruising was anything to go by.

A trio of young boys were crouched in the middle of it all.

One boy, red-haired and wearing goggles, caught his attention first, until he realized it wasn't Kid Flash; this boy wore jeans, thick boots, leather elbow length gloves, and a striped shirt undeneath a cream coloured fur vest. One of the kidnapping victims, perhaps?

A second boy with short blonde hair dressed all in black and red leather was crouching over something, and standing beside him was a much younger child, who looked to be about Robin's age, with snow white hair. He was wearing pajamas, which were...also splattered with blood.

He, Superman and Flash had taken the lead, and were about to speak as they approached the group of teens, when the redhead noticed them, and his eyes widened for a moment with a look of awe, before a grimace overtook his features and he stepped out of the way, allowing them to get a better look at what was going on.

Batman's heart stopped for a moment when he took in the situation.

Laying motionless on the ground in a rather large puddle of his own blood, unconscious and clearly not breathing, was Kid Flash. From the looks of it, he had been shot point blank in the chest, and the blonde haired boy was currently performing CPR on him, panting with the effort and muttering quietly.

He vaguely heard Flash let out a cry as he raced to his nephew's side to help, but the Dark Knight was frozen where he stood.

Every part of his body screamed at him to go, to help his son's best friend however he could because he was _dying_ , and it would tear Dick apart if he lost anyone else, but he couldn't bring himself to move until he knew the answer to what had been on his mind for over an hour now...

 _Where is he...? Where is Robin?_

Superman was talking to him, saying something about searching the building, but Batman's attention was otherwise occupied, because the pajama-clad child was suddenly approaching him.

Oddly enough, he didn't show the typical fear or wonder that others who encountered one member of the Justice League, let alone _several_ at once, did. Instead, he looked to Superman and spoke in a soft, but monotone voice, "The prisoners are in the basement, second sublevel. They may require medical attention..."

Even the Boy Scout seemed surprised by the kid's behavior, but he nodded nevertheless and headed for the staircase, only to be stopped by the Flash, "His collar first, Supes. _Please_." His voice cracked, fear written all across his face despite the mask.

Batman had, somehow, failed to notice the large black choker adorning Kid Flash's neck, red lights lining it. That was an inhibitor collar...like they used in Belle Reve, to neutralize the powers of Metahumans. Which meant it was also keeping the red-haired boy from healing.

The Kryptonian's jaw clenched - the Dark Knight knew it was at the thought of someone shooting a kid while they were essentially defenseless - and he immediately went to go break apart the restrictive device, before flying off to find the prisoners.

Watching him go for a moment, Batman turned his attention to the white-haired boy, who was still standing there, just staring at him, his gray eyes unblinking. It was slightly...unnerving, especially on a kid so young looking.

"You're looking for your son."

It was a statement, not a question, and that made him tense slightly.

Sure, many people had assumed Dick was his son when he first hit the streets as Robin. Criminals had an absolutle field day, thinking they finally had the opportunity to take something important away from their greatest enemy. But the way the kid spoke, it sounded so matter-of-fact, like he knew _exactly_ how the Batman and his sidekick were connected.

"Do you know where he is?" Batman finally rumbled, looking the boy over once he'd finally snapped out of whatever was clouding his mind. He didn't appear to be hurt. Good. Even if he would have loved to have one more reason than he already did to throw these parasites in prison, the thought of innocent children being abused by these madmen was sickening.

The boy looked away for a moment, a frown turning down the corners of his lips, "It wasn't supposed to happen like this..." he muttered, and inclined his head towards the redhead on the floor, "He was shot trying to stop Pyotr from taking Robin."

"Who?"

 _Someone took Dick? Who, and where? That's why Wally was shot? Where is he now?_

A million questions raced through his mind, and the sound of footsteps made him look up. The blonde teenager placed a bloody hand on the white-haired one's shoulder, staining his clothes, though it didn't seem to bother the younger of the two. "His name is Pyotr Andreyev, or Peter Andrews. He's the right-hand man to the leader of this circus." A scowl appeared on his face, "Her name is Anastasia Ivanova, also goes by Anya Evans. They're both from Russia. He's a former mercenary for hire and she's a prostitute and sex trafficker. They're the only two unaccounted for, plus they're almost always together."

The red-haired boy joined them then, pushing the goggles up onto his head, "Yeah, the freaks haven't been operating in the U.S. very long. Mello and I decided to go undercover and stop 'em when they took Near." Batman frowned when he heard that.

So these were just a group of kids that wanted to play detective?

He would have thought that to be reckless, but as he watched Flash and Martian Manhunter care for the unconscious and blood-soaked fifteen-year-old boy on the floor, he considered that maybe they weren't the only ones.

"What else do you know about this man and woman?" He chose to redirect the conversation, wanting to know as much he could about the people who had his boy. He didn't like the idea of a hooker and murderer holding Robin captive at all; the sooner they rescued him, the better.

"Nothing good," The one called Mello admitted, his gaze darkened slightly as he regarded the Batman with eyes far too old for his age, "If we don't find them soon, though, then the kid is as good as dead."

* * *

 **Things are heating up!**


	12. Locked In

**All My Friends Are Superheroes**

 **Summary** : Being a teenaged hero is no walk in the park; juggling school, homework, superpowers, friends and family can be tough, especially when you and your secret boyfriend are tiptoeing around teammates, parents and mentors. However, sometimes in life you have to just stop worrying, and let the stones fall where they may. It might not be that bad, after all. Season 1. AU/OOC. Birdflash.

 **Point Of View** : Third person's POV, set in past tense/story format, with dreams/thoughts italicized. The focus will mainly be on Robin and Kid Flash, of course, but I fully plan to further explore their interactions with the team, and also with their JLA mentors. Story starts after the team has been established, right after the end of their first official mission together.

* * *

 _"Beware the dark pool at the bottom of our hearts. In its icy, black depths dwell strange and twisted creatures it is best not to disturb." - Sue Grafton_

* * *

"Are you really sure that you want to interrogate a group of teenagers?" Superman asked the Dark Knight, a frown on his handsome face as he regarded the younger vigilante.

He seemed troubled.

Sure, he knew that they needed to find Robin ASAP, it was the League's top priority at the moment, and the kids could definitely help them. After all, he, Batman, the Flash, Red Tornado and Martian Manhunter had already combed through all of Star City and the surrounding areas several times over while looking for the man known in the U.S. as Peter Andrews, and there was no sign of him, or the Boy Wonder. "They didn't do anything but try to help, misguided as they may have been."

Trying to infiltrate a dangerous mob of hardened criminals was stupid, and not just of the kids they met that night. Red Arrow, Kid Flash and Robin should have known better than to go on a mission without telling anyone.

As for those other kids, Superman had questioned them briefly before the hot-tempered blonde boy had ordered his friends to be silent. From what he had gathered, they were runaways, likely orphaned, and had left the place they were staying together. You didn't form a friendship like they seemed to have over night.

Obviously, they were worried about being sent back to whoever they came from.

He didn't feel right about pressuring the boys to tell them everything they knew on the same night as watching someone their age get _shot_.

While it might not have been an intended punishment, Batman _was_ known to be rather intimidating, though that was usually just to adults, and if the teens were scarred from whatever had happened in that hotel, well...

They were in Mount Justice at the moment, not only so they could monitor Kid Flash and Red Arrow, but because they needed somewhere they could talk to the trio without the police snooping around. It was either the Mountain, or the Hall, and the former was better equipped to take care of Wally's and Roy's injuries. They'd freed the prisoners and sent them off with emergency services to be taken care off. The white-haired boy had been right, they _were_ in terrible shape.

Everyone was very worried about the youngest member of their team, though. Miss Martian had begun to cry when she found out that Robin was missing, and even Artemis - normally so stoic - looked visibly concerned.

Batman glanced over at his teammate, and shook his head in annoyance, "I don't _want_ to, however..."

"You'd do anything to find Robin." _Even harass a trio of orphaned, possibly traumatized, kids._

It was a statement, not a question.

A scowl appeared on the man's face, and he told Superman flatly, "Yes, I would, and you can judge my methods and I all you like when _you_ become a father. But maybe by that point you'll understand." He turned and walked away before the other could respond, passing by none other than Superboy along the way.

The clone seemed confused when he looked at Batman.

Well, _someone_ had to look out for the young Kryptonian, and if Superman wouldn't pull his head out of his ass long enough to take on the responsibility, then Batman would. He'd never admit it out loud, but he frequently felt accountable for the team, and not just as the one who assigned them their missions. He did whatever he could in little ways to help them out. Such as giving Wally money so that he could take Superboy clothes shopping, or sending Artemis to Gotham Academy so she would recieve a proper education...

It was all for them. He didn't know what would become of these kids one day. But, whether they chose to join the Justice League eventually or not, they _deserved_ to have a future.

Batman didn't find the group sitting around the island in the kitchen as they had been before. Only the two of them, Near and Matt, were still there. Earlier, the blonde haired boy who seemed to be the leader of the three, Mello, had been cleaning out a gun. A stainless steel Beretta 92FS 9mm Sword Cutlass pistol, to be more specific. There were no guns allowed inside of the base, so he assumed the boy must have brought it with him (which was a bit disturbing, but he allowed it for now).

The boy was no longer there.

His redheaded companion was still hunched over a Nintendo DSi, now sitting on the sofa in the living room, mashing madly at the buttons, his eyes unblinking as they followed the movements on the screen. The youngest boy, the one with the white hair, was now on the floor with a box of sugar cubes in front of him. He didn't seem particularly interested in eating them though, instead he was stacking them into obscure structures and shapes.

After scanning the living room and kitchen over briefly, he confirmed that the blonde had left, "Where's your other friend?"

"Huh?" The redhead paused his game and looked up, "You mean Mels? Oh, he went to talk to Baby Flash about something, I wasn't really paying attention." He returned his attention to the console.

Near pressed his lips together into a thin line, and looked away.

He really needed to have a chat with that kid. Batman got the feeling he knew more about the situation than he was letting on, but first he wanted to talk to Mello, and find out further details about Robin's kidnappers, since he was the oldest and most willing to help so far. Running background checks on his and the other two's real names, once he learned them, wouldn't hurt either. These boys could be juvenile delinquents for all he knew.

Without another word, the Dark Knight turned and headed for the medical bay.

Even before he'd reached the door, which was shut, he could already hear the two teenagers talking, despite the low, hushed voices.

"Don't even bother, Zippy, it won't work." He heard the blonde telling Kid Flash, "Trust me, I've been working with this guy for weeks, I know all about his type. You won't be able to bribe him, threaten him, or talk him down. The only way to deal with bastards like him is to put them in a body bag."

Batman narrowed his eyes - just what were the two of them discussing? He wasn't about to jump to conclusions, but it sounded awfully like Mello was trying to convince Wally to...

The redhead interrupted his train of thought, snapping out, "Look, dude, I don't care _what_ you think you know about this guy! That Pedo's got my best friend and I'm not about to sit by and do nothing, just because he shot me, it doesn't mean I can't take him down! Besides, the Justice League have a no kill policy, and so do I." His tone was firm. "There's gotta be another way to save Rob - I will _not_ sit here and do nothing while he's out there somewhere."

Batman felt a swell of gratitude towards the teenager. Despite being relatives only by marriage, Wally West was still very much Barry Allen's nephew. He was loyal to a fault and stubborn as hell. Despite the doubts and anger he had initially felt towards Dick for sharing his identity with the redhead, he had to admit that if Kid Flash couldn't be trusted, no one could. The speedster had taken a _bullet_ trying to protect his son, after being beaten when he was caught attempting to rescue him the first time. Now _that_ was dedication.

He had managed to earn the approval of both Bruce Wayne and his darker counterpart, without even realizing it.

Robin had chosen his best friend well.

A quick peek through the crack of the door showed him that Kid Flash was sitting on the edge of the hospital bed, his arms crossed over his bare but bandaged torso. He looked a lot healthier than he had earlier, much less pale. His healing factor was doing its job.

Good, that meant he would be able to debrief Batman on what exactly he and Roy were doing there with his sick child.

Mello turned to face Wally, a hand on his hip, "Calm your shit, Kid! I didn't tell you to go out and off the man, now did I? Also, get your facts straight, he isn't a Pedophile. Robin is - what, twelve? Thirteen?"

"Thirteen."

Nodding to himself, the blonde appeared to be deep in thought for a moment, "Right. Now, see, if anything he _could_ be classified as a Hebephile. The difference between this type of pervert and that other type is they're typically attracted to kids between the ages of eleven and fourteen, when they're in the early to middle stages of puberty. Pedophiles are usually only interested in kids under the age of eleven or so."

Batman went cold when he heard that, his stomach and heart plummeted simultaneously. Mello had _never_ said that the man was a sex offender, of that he was absolutely certain. He'd told him that Pyotr was a mercenary for hire.

Wait, the look that the youngest boy, Near, had given him... He'd _known_ that there was something being kept hidden from him. In fact, he seemed to have some sort of precognitive ability. While Batman didn't like to put a ton of stock in magic or psychics, he knew it was all very real and that it had its uses. Now he definitely needed to have another conversation with the kid...

The revelation about Robin's kidnapper had him more on edge than he cared to admit, though. Because what was that sick son of a bitch doing to his son while he wasted time listening in on this nonsense?

"Dude, that's disgusting!" Kid Flash blurted out, and he was rather inclined to agree with him, "Why the hell are you-"

Both boys went silent as the door syddenly opened and Batman all but glided into the room, presence as dominating as ever, and looking over at the blonde teenager who was currently leaning back against the wall.

He didn't say anything until he was face to face with Mello, "Tell me everything you know about Pyotr Andreyev."

The teenager pushed himself off of the wall, stepping past the Dark Knight easily, and crossed his arms as he began to pace, "...Fine. I don't really want to see another kid die because of that freakshow... I've put together a psychological profile of him over the last little while, just in case." He turned to face the Batman, "He isn't what I would classify as a typical Hebephile. He's a violent psychopath and a sexual sadist, but he doesn't choose his victims because he's exclusively attracted to them, but because they're just easier targets."

Batman frowned slightly as he considered that. It would make sense, loathe though he was to admit it. If the man wasn't confident he could get away with abducting someone near his own age despite his physical strength, children would be the safer target. Yet, for Robin, it didn't exactly fit. His apprentice was more than capable of taking care of himself, he was even able to bring down men more than twice his age and size, so why...?

"Andreyev is a risk taker." Mello told him abruptly, as if guessing his thoughts. Maybe he was, all three boys appeared to be of above average intelligence. "He didn't plan to grab Robin, he did it on a whim when he saw the opportunity, and his gamble paid off. He snatched the kid because he was vulnerable. He and Anya Evans had interrogated him earlier about what he knew of their activities. The result was a concussion, multiple bilateral rib fractures, a broken wrist, and a shoulder injury that I sewed up after he was stabbed." He sighed, running his fingers through his golden hair, "I...I gave him something for the pain, I could tell he was pretty sick so I told him to sleep it off while he waited for his friends to show up. I didn't think..."

There was a twinge of guilt in his tone, and suddenly Mello's cooperation seemed to make a lot more sense. He blamed himself, even though he couldn't have prevented it, since he himself didn't seem to be psychic.

Batman did not approve of kids engaging in vigilantism without guidance or order, but as it would have been hypocritical to get angry at the three strangers, instead he was grateful. Those previously mentioned injuries could have been fatal to Robin if they hadn't been inclined to help him.

"You said this guy was a psycho," Kid Flash cut in then, his voice rather weak sounding, and when Batman turned to look at him, his complexion was pale, but this time not from blood loss. He looked sick to his stomach. "What _exactly_ did you mean by that?"

The crimefighter wanted to know that himself. Mello was obviously rather intelligent for his age, and perceptive as well. Batman could speculate all he wanted based on past criminals like this that he had fought, but - and as much as he hated to acknowledge it - the more he knew about Andreyev's M.O., the better. If he could get into this man's headspace he could find his ward, hopefully before anything too traumatic occurred.

Frowning, Mello looked at the speedster, "The thing about these guys, Zippy, is... How do I put this...? These sick freaks aren't like us, alright? They can't just whack off to porn like a normal person or go out and find a hooker." He said bluntly, "Andreyev... there's studies about his _kind_ , and they aren't pretty. His version of Maxim and Playboy is most likely surgical textbooks and autopsy reports; medieval torture and all sorts of messed up shit. Sexual sadists _can't_ be in normal healthy relationships because no _sane_ individual would ever willingly consent to the amount of pain that it takes for them to get it up. Unless of course they're a masochist. So, they take to doing what they want without consent. The only way they can get their jollies is by causing fear and suffering in their victims."

Wally ran a shaking hand through his hair, looking like he wanted to throw up. It was surprising he hadn't already, though. His face was a mask of revulsion and worry. "...Oh my God." He whispered under his breath, "If... if we can't get to Rob soon, what will he do to him?"

The blonde's expression turned reluctant then, and Batman instantly knew he didn't want to share what he thought, but he was going to anyway, because he wanted to help Robin. He could appreciate that, at the very least. "Most likely? Pyotr will take him somewhere quiet, isolated. A safe house of some kind. Somewhere that he feels in control. He'll torture him physically, first. Probably try to make him scream; anything that will empower him. It's like his foreplay. Once he gets what he wants from the kid..."

"What, then what will he do?" Kid Flash asked desperately, looking between Batman and Mello, wanting - no, _needing_ answers. What was happening to his best friend?

Mello turned away from him, "...he'll rape him, repeatedly. He's done it before." The temperature in the room seemed to drop, and Wally made a strangled noise in the back of his throat.

Hearing the words spoken out loud made a hot, dangerous fury unfurl within Batman.

"If Robin survives long enough for him to have his... _fun_ , then he'll kill him. It won't be quick, though. Pyotr will want him to suffer, make him beg for death. Because it's on his terms, he will eventually do it. He may even record it and send it out to the media... It wouldn't be unheard of. Sadists like to relive their acts over and over by causing as much grief to loved ones as possible. He'll probably even try to blame them for what he did. Not to shift responsibility - psychopaths can't feel guilt, but just to cause even more pain to other people."

The entire time the blonde was talking, Batman could feel his rage towards Andreyev growing. Not only because he'd already helped in physically _torturing_ Robin for information, but because he had taken advantage of him while he was sick and hurt, abducted him, and was doing God knows what sorts of things while they stood around and played Dr. Phil.

He vowed never to cross a line he couldn't uncross by murdering someone. Even the Joker of all people had survived his many encounters with the Dark Knight. But if there was ever a type of criminal that Batman nearly _did_ take an even _darker_ turn for, if there was ever someone he _did_ have an urge to kill, then people who abused children that way were it.

It was sick, depraved, and horrifying, what some of them were capable of. They were monsters, and he'd done his best to keep Robin away from those cases in Gotham, lest it place him on one of the deranged fucks' radar.

Now, despite the measures he'd taken, his son had been captured by one...

"And the woman, Anya?" Batman spoke up then, breaking the silence once more. "You mentioned she was in charge of the human trafficking the mob was involved in, and that she was a prostitute herself. What else do you know about her?"

Mello smiled almost grimly, "If I'm right and she is with Pyotr, we may catch a break, and she will be what keeps your Robin alive. Despise her own lack of empathy and remorse for most of her actions, she isn't nearly as brutal as Pyotr. She is far more clever and cunning. If she has property somewhere in or near Star City that they were staying at it wouldn't surprise me. She's a more tactical thinker. Despite her willingness to do whatever it takes to get what she wants, she won't kill the kid. She'd be more likely to offer a trade of some kind or try extorting money from you people in exchange for his life. She's always looking to see what she can get from a situation. If the two of them are together, she won't let her partner finish him, not when he might be of use to her."

Hearing that Robin had more of a chance in this new scenario, he actually hoped she _was_ with them. In that case, it meant he would have a better chance at survival, and it also meant catching two perps instead of one.

Batman just hoped his son could hang in there long enough to be found.

* * *

Ugh, Robin was really starting to feel claustraphobic.

When he first woke up, his instinct was to panic as he had no idea where he was or how he had got there. The rational part of his mind told him that the fever was only fuelling his state, and that he needed to calm down, take a deep breath and _think_.

He examined his surroundings, trying to help clear his head.

The place he was in was quite dark, and at first he thought he was in a basement, but when he tried to move it became quite obvious that _that_ wasn't the case. The "room" he was locked in seemed to be very small, and it didn't take long for him to come to the conclusion that it wasn't a a room at all.

It was a closet of some sort.

While it was difficult to navigate around due to the fact that his wrists and ankles were both shackled in thick metal restraints, he somehow managed. There was a string hanging from the ceiling that had switched on a bare lightbulb, which made seeing a lot easier.

But what he found was deeply unsettling.

The room was about five feet long and wide, and rather empty. It consisted mainly of a metal bucket in the corner, a single mattress shoved off to the side, and an old blanket thrown over it. He'd already tried knocking down the door - the room was entirely white but he could see hinges on one of the walls, yet there was no handle or anything.

Clearly it was designed to keep someone locked inside, and he knew for a fact that he wasn't the first person kept in it, because there were scratches by the makeshift bed, smeared with blood as though someone had torn their own fingernails from carving them. Tally marks, to indicate how many days they had passed.

He counted thirteen lines in total, which didn't bode well for him.

At first, just the idea of being trapped at all had seemed bad enough, but then he actually recalled what had led up to it. His throat ached at the memory of the arm that had wrapped around it to render him unconscious. And then he thought of Wally...

Robin ended up having to choke back his tears, because he didn't know if the other boy was alive or dead.

If he lost his best friend, he didn't know what he would do.

But, trying not to jump to the worst case scenario, he focused on what his options were. The man had to have taken him for some reason. Maybe as a bargaining chip of some sort. Which meant he didn't _want_ him to die, at least... not just yet, so he would have to check on the teen at some point.

Maybe he could recover enough from his illness so that he'd actually stand a chance against the guy this time.

The little closet-like room was rather warm, at least, which was good because his uniform, though built to withstand a certain temperatures, was not the most comfortable thing to be wearing when you were sick. His injuries still hurt, of course, but he found his anger over what Pyotr had done to Wally, and his determination to get free on his own this time, was pretty good motivation for mentally suppressing the pain he was in.

Suddenly, his stomach growled, and Robin winced, drawing his knees up to his chest as best as he could, and resting his forehead against them. He was hungry, even though he didn't exactly have an appetite at the moment. How long had it beem since he'd last eaten? What day was it anyways?

It had been Wednesday when he followed after Red Arrow and Kid Flash, he knew it had been at least Thursday evening by the time the mobster dragged him out of the hotel, because he clearly remembered a dark sky full of stars. The biggest question of all was how long he had been in this room, or better yet - how long he had been unconscious in general.

A huff escaped the Boy Wonder, as he lifted his head up to stare at the ceiling, but there was nothing really worth looking at except the lightbulb.

He began to wonder who else had been trapped here before him, and what had become of them once they had fufilled whatever their purpose was. Although, the more he considered it, the brunette wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know the answer to that.

Closing his eyes, and trying not to focus on how downright horrid he felt, Robin took a deep breath.

He just had to bide his time, that was all.

* * *

Meanwhile, Batman had begun investigating the pasts of Anastasia Ivanova and Pyotr Andreyev himself, to see how much of what Mello said was actually true, and what was merely speculation.

Their aliases were apparently legit, so much so that they'd had bank accounts, credit cards, insurance and more under their false identities. If it hadn't been for the teens confirming their real identities, it was quite possible he wouldn't have discovered who they were on his own for quite some time, even though they hadn't been in the U.S. long - a little under two years.

Anya's mother had died giving birth to her and her father had been a Captain of the Solntsevskaya Bratva, but was killed when she was only a young girl; an assassination by their enemies.

She was then placed in various foster homes, each progressively worse off than the last, until she turned sixteen, at which point she ran away and ended up on the streets. She became addicted to drugs and started soliciting herself to get the next fix. Eventually the abused teen became an abusive pimp herself before getting caught and serving time for it. The charges she'd wracked up her numerous, but _nothing_ compared to her companion's.

A lot less was known about Pyotr's background, other than that he was born in May of 1968 (making him 42 years old) and became a hired hitman sometime in his late teens, killing over a dozen high profile targets at the behest of the mob, of course. His various crimes included manslaughter, burglary, premeditated murder, assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery, drug possession with intent to sell, forgery, etc...

But it was reading about the offenses that had led to him fleeing Russia that really made the Dark Knight feel truly angry.

He did ten years from 1998 to 2008 for abducting and raping a twelve year old boy, resulting in hospitalization. The photographs and police records were positively sickening: he'd held the child for more than sixteen hours during which he'd tortured and brutally assaulted him, burning him with cigarettes and cutting him with a hunting knife, as well as beating and sodomizing him repeatedly over the time he held him captive.

Batman had to force himself to keep reading.

From what he managed to gather, Pyotr had fled the country in early 2009, a few weeks after he was released from prison, because he was a suspect in the rape and murder of an eleven year old girl. It seemed like he wasn't too keen on going back to prison. There was an outstanding arrest warrant for him in his home country.

Klara Markovich, the psychiatrist who attempted rehabilitation for him when he was incarcerated, had plenty to say about the mobster. Unsurprisingly, none of it was good. She had graphically detailed her sessions with him. He decided to save that _treat_ for last, and instead focused on his preliminary diagnosis and end of term evaluations.

 _...seems that sexuality and inflicting pain were fused for him at a very early age._

 _There is a good chance that the patient underwent severe abuse from one or both of his parents in childhood, but he will not stick to any one story as he is a_ _habitual liar, and continues to treat each of his sessions like a game. He is also extremely charismatic and manipulative..._

 _...been removed from in-group therapy after six years due to his refusing to cooperate. I fear that further attendance in this program will only better teach him how to mimic normal social behavior, and make him more dangerous once he is released._

 _Patient has repeatedly expressed desire to continue his acts of sexual violence and play out sadistic fantasies towards children once he is released... It is_ _my professional opinion that civil commitment is the only way to guarantee that he does not re-offend._

Despite her best efforts, Dr. Markovich was unfortunately unable to get Pyotr institutionalized. Although he was obviously still a threat to the community, there was insufficient evidence to indicate that he met the criteria necessary to be committed.

According to her well documented journals, which he managed to gain _access_ to, Pyotr had confessed to beating, assaulting and threatening dozens of other children, both male and female, from the time he was nine years old up until he had been arrested. There was no real proof of this happening, but then again... violent crimes were so common in Russia that it often went unreported.

Eventually, he'd learned all he felt he could from reading about this man's sick mind, and he began digging more into other aspects of both criminals' lives, to see if he could get a clue as to where they were keeping Robin.

 _Keep holding on, Dick, I'm going to find you._

* * *

 **How are you guys enjoying this story so far? Got any suggestions, ideas or tips? Notice any spelling or grammatical errors? Let me know! I want to make my story the best I possibly can, after all.**

 **Things are finally getting exciting. You'll find out more about about Wally and his thoughts on the whole situation soon. Things might get a little dark for some of you, but I don't plan on letting anything _too bad_ happen to Robin, promise! If you want to know more, check out the warnings on the first chapter. **


	13. Choices

**All My Friends Are Superheroes**

 **Summary** : Being a teenaged hero is no walk in the park; juggling school, homework, superpowers, friends and family can be tough, especially when you and your secret boyfriend are tiptoeing around teammates, parents and mentors. However, sometimes in life you have to just stop worrying, and let the stones fall where they may. It might not be that bad, after all. Season 1. AU/OOC. Birdflash.

 **Point Of View** : Third person's POV, set in past tense/story format, with dreams/thoughts italicized. The focus will mainly be on Robin and Kid Flash, of course, but I fully plan to further explore their interactions with the team, and also with their JLA mentors. Story starts after the team has been established, right after the end of their first official mission together.

* * *

 _"I believe that we are solely responsible for our choices, and we have to accept the consequences of every deed, word, and thought throughout our lifetime." - Elisabeth Kubler-Ross_

* * *

When Wally woke up in his bed at Mount Justice, he thought it was all just a horrible nightmare at first.

Or maybe he had just been _hoping_ that that's what it was.

He didn't even remember falling asleep, truth be told.

The last thing he did recall was sitting on the couch in the living room with his laptop, blinking tiredly as he desperately searched for areas in or near Star City. Specifically, places where two violent criminals could hide their superhero abductee without drawing upon too much attention.

It was only then that the full force of the situation really hit the speedster: Robin was _missing_.

Kidnapped.

The worst part of it wasn't even the nauseating fear and anxiety that had his stomach in knots, or the horrible guilt that he felt because he should have been able to get to him, _damn it!_

No, the worst part of all was that he might never get the chance to tell Dick how he really felt about him, that he might not see him again, smiling in that way which always seemed to light up an otherwise gloomy day. He could have to watch as the coffin of his closest friend ever got lowered into the ground...

The thought alone was unbearable.

He knew whatever was between the two of them was something far more than just a stupid crush, and he'd known it since the very beginning. But what if Robin _didn't?_ What if he never found out, all because Wally had been too much of a coward to simply _tell him_ when he'd had countless opportunities?

They hadn't even had the chance to go out on their first date yet...

Feeling tears burn treacherously in the corners of his eyes, the teenager thought about harshly scrubbing them away with the edge of his sleeve, but what would even be the point? Who did he have to be strong for? An overwhelming, helpless despair washed over Wally, and he wanted to drive his fist through the wall in frustration.

God, he was being such a _cry_ _baby._

Robin was out there somewhere, alone with two criminal psychopaths, hurt and sick, probably really scared because even being one of the bravest people the redhead knew he was still only _thirteen years old_ for God's sake, while possibly being tortured and-

 _No!_

He couldn't let himself think that way.

Thinking like that meant that he was already starting to give up.

He _would_ find his best friend, and no matter what shape he was in when he found him, Wally would be there for the younger boy, helping him deal with the aftermath of whatever those psychotic fucks had put him through, and the next time they were alone together, the speedster would tell him _everything_ he'd ever secretly wanted to.

Every single thing he was scared of confessing to another person, and he would share them because he trusted Robin implicitly; the same way the younger boy had trusted him to keep his identity a secret.

Wally would share with him that he had once been the older brother to the sweetest little kid in the world; tell the brunette all about the beautiful baby girl who had been at the center of his very universe, until he was eight years old, and he didn't realize that the child with the head full of ginger curls had run out onto the road to play with the dog on the other side. By the time he spotted her, it was too late.

The sound of screeching tires, cracking bones and someone screaming for a phone to call 911 still haunted him.

He would tell him about how he blamed himself for not being fast enough to get to Leanne in time, and how his parents blamed him too, even if they never actually said so out loud. That was probably because they had stopped talking about her all together after the funeral.

The door to her bedroom was locked, never to be opened again. Existing, but not spoken about or acknowledged. Seven years later, and his sister was still the thirty-nine-pound, three-foot-two ghost of an elephant in the room.

Eventually he would work up the nerve to tell Robin about how his parents' marriage had very quickly fallen apart after they buried Leanne. The two of them had stayed together, but if they weren't fighting it was probably only because they were ignoring each other entirely.

The speedster would somehow manage to share with Robin the first time he had walked in on his father drinking himself into a blind stupor, and the very first time that Rudolph West had struck his son. Those ones would take less time to tell him about - they were the same memory.

He would choke back his tears and his shame long enough to tell Robin that the reason he disliked showering around the others after a mission had less to do with not letting them see the scars littering his back and chest from his father's belt, and more to do with the teacher that had destroyed him; physically and emotionally shattering his eleven-year-old self when he was in the fifth grade. How, he would admit, to this day he still hated school because of the monster that had cornered him in a classroom during lunch and betrayed his trust in the worst possible way.

The teenager silently prayed to a God he wasn't sure even existed that Robin would never be able to relate to that experience, the one that still made him wake up in a cold sweat, with a feeling like there was lead in the pit of his stomach, slowly poisoning him.

Maybe he would even show Robin the marks he'd given himself with an old razor blade before he'd gotten his powers, during a time when he was twelve years old and in constant anguish, but not having anyone he could turn to back then. That was a dark period in his life, one that he'd spent completely alone. Not even his Uncle Barry knew how close he came to ending it all on the day he found out who his hero really was.

Then he would tell him about the mask he put on. Not just as Kid Flash, but the one he put on for others. At school, he was the just-nerdy-enough kid that still managed to be popular because he was athletic and got good grades. At home he was his mother's living antidepressant, his father's "Champ". At least until he relapsed and started drinking again. Then he became one half protector and one half human punching bag.

A cheerful disposition was how he made it through the day with his sanity intact. Becoming a superhero was honestly the best escape from his toxic life that he had.

He would share his fears, too, like how he worried that he could never live up to the legacy left behind by the Flash, and _his_ predecessor, Jay Garrick. Or how he was actually terrified of dying young due to their line of work, and being filled with regrets; such as not having made his mark, and being forgotten by the world.

Exposing himself to that kind of vulnerability would be hard, he knew that, but he would do it nevertheless, because he wanted the younger teenager to know everything that there was to about him.

After getting through the darkest, most painful of his memories, he would share the good ones, too. The first time he went running out in the open, how positively _free_ he felt... When he first rescued someone as Kid Flash, and how he knew it was something he was meant to do... Him and his parents celebrating Leanne's fourth (and last) birthday together as a family...

When he had said all he needed to, the redhead would take the clever, infuriating Boy Wonder's hands, look him right in those beautiful oceanic blue eyes, and tell him that he was Robin's, if the brunette still wanted him, that is.

Someday, he would even be ready to spill the sappier, diabetes-inducing stuff; like how Dick was the first thing he thought of when he woke up in the morning and the last thing on his mind before he fell asleep at night, or how his future with Robin by his side, in his arms - both costumed and not - was by far the most frequent dream he'd been having in the last few weeks.

Perhaps Wally would eventually even be able to utter the three little words that both thrilled and terrified him at once to think about.

Yes, he would tell Robin each and every important detail of his past, good and bad.

But first he would have to find him, before it was too late.

* * *

Robin felt like absolute _hell_.

The young boy was laying on the dingy old mattress, curled into a ball on his side while clutching his aching stomach, wrapped up in the raggedy blanket. He felt so very _cold_ , but his hair was soaked with sweat, his face colourless aside from the rosy flush to his cheeks.

Every breath he drew in was wheezy and painful sounding, but the worst symptom was the horrible coughs that continuously wracked his small body; harsh, wet gasps for air.

He didn't know how long he had felt like that for - his illness had suddenly taken a turn for the worst - but he was pretty sure his fever was too high, and the fact that he could no longer feel the pain from the bruises mottling his torso, among other injuries, _had_ to be a bad sign.

Somewhere nearby he heard a click, at least he _thought_ he did, and that was confirmed when suddenly the light from the bulb hanging above him was blocked by a shadow.

The masked teen looked up warily, only to see a pretty, fair-haired woman staring back down at him; gray eyes narrowed, lips pursed slightly.

Fear and dread crashed down on him like an avalanche.

"...What is wrong with you?" Anya demanded after a moment of silence.

Her captive certainly _looked_ sick; pale white and trembling, red smeared around the corners of his mouth as though he'd been coughing - or perhaps vomiting - up blood. The only reason she had went to check on him was to make sure her partner had been honest when he told her that he'd not hurt the child.

It wouldn't have been the first time he killed a kid and tried to cover it up, the man had zero impulse control.

She hadn't seen the boy, Robin, since leaving him bleeding and in pain on the floor of her interrogation room, infuriated by his lack of cooperation. She had hoped scaring him would have worked, she didn't like torturing children, after all.

When the Russian woman had first heard on the news of the cops from SCPD seizing her property after the intervention of the Justice League, she had been pissed. Thousands of dollars worth of stolen property, slaves, drugs and firearms, lost.

If any of her members ratted her out she would make their families all watch as she cut the tongues from their backstabbing mouths.

A fitting punishment for traitors.

She had been getting ready to leave the city, lest she get caught, when Pyotr phoned her, and gave her something worthy of sticking around for: the boy. Apparently her old friend had saw what was happening as he had been getting ready to leave himself when he found Robin while grabbing medical supplies for the road, and had taken him to their safe house, calling her when she didn't show up.

From there, Anya had given him instructions on how to avoid getting spotted, and told him to bring the boy somewhere she knew was secure. Every place associated with their fake identities had, presumably, been compromised, and a plan formed. The beach front Malibu residence she had directed Pyotr to was actually the vacation home of a former client, a rich old widower with a fetish for under aged Latinas. They'd parted on good terms months ago, although truth be told he had no idea she had access to his property, but he was currently out of the country and would never find out.

Just as she remembered, he still had a secret locked chamber hidden behind the large wardrobe in one of his guest rooms, where he always kept his playthings.

It was perfect, for now.

They would be well hidden until she decided what to do next, like how they could use the child's life to benefit their own. She was trying to figure out how to contact the Batman, knowing he was probably beside himself with worry for his little sidekick.

With all those fancy gadgets he was seen using, the man behind the mask had to be loaded, which she planned to take full advantage of. Now, she wasn't stupid enough to call up a friend and send them to their tourist trap to negotiate, so she had decided to ask the teenager himself how to contact his mentor.

She did not expect him to look like _this_ , however.

If he died whie in her posession, Anya didn't want to _think_ about what his friends in the Justice League would do to her. Plus, dead children weren't exactly something she enjoyed thinking about. Obviously, he had a temperature. She knew how to fix it, and headed to the bathroom which connected to the main bedroom, looking through the medicine cabinet. It wasn't the first time she had seen someone suffer from Pneumonia, and so she knew exactly what to look for.

Robin hadn't attempted to get up despite her leaving the door unlocked. From the looks of it, her captive was too weak to move. Either that, or his fever was clouding his thoughts, and he didn't realize she'd even left.

His eyelids drooped, but the brunette forced himself to focus when the woman kneeled down beside him. She was speaking to him, but the fog over his brain was too thick, he couldn't _understand_.

Slim fingers suddenly curled beneath his chin, tilting his head back, and then the domino mask was being tugged off of his face. He wanted to protest, but couldn't seem to form the words.

Looking up blearily at the blonde woman, he briefly saw his own mother. The part of his head not boiling from the inside out with a fever was panicked, because that meant he was starting to hallucinate - which was really bad...

But, other hand, Anya's hands were really warm and her voice, though distorted, somehow soothed him.

Until he saw the bottle of pills in her hand.

"N-No..." He managed to croak out, teeth chattering. He was sick, but he couldn't take the medicine. Not that kind, anyways. He was allergic to it, those antibiotics would probably kill him. "Can't..."

His vision darkened again, and the last thing he was aware of before passing out was Anya catching him in her arms.

* * *

When Robin next woke up, it was in a very different setting.

The first realization he came to was that he no longer felt frozen on the outside but scorched on the inside. His fatigue and general aches and pains were still there, but considering he'd felt near death the last time he was conscious, it was an improvement.

He was missing more of his uniform, the cape, boots and his mask. Even though it was covered in his blood and clung tightly to his skin, he was relieved to still be wearing the rest. Not only was it designed with a certain amount of protection, but it made him feel..older.

Logically, he knew the fact that someone has moved him, while he was unconscious no less, should have set off alarms, but he was way too tired to care. When he focused enough to take in his surroundings, the brunette saw that he was laying in a large, canopied bed, and that made him frown, because...where was he?

His hair was damp, but not with sweat...someone had cooled him down?

The scent of food caught his attention, and he turned his head, blinking at the plate of toast and scrambled eggs on the table beside him. He grimaced, despite his earlier hunger pains he had absolutely no desire to eat.

Apparently his captor wasn't concerned with that, though, "You need to eat something."

Robin quickly sat up, and spotted Anya standing at the end of the bed, watching him. "I doubt you'll be worth much to me if you die of starvation."

"Worth..?" He asked weakly, unease settling in the pit of his stomach. Was she planning to _sell_ him?

He nearly shuddered at the thought. In over four years of crime fighting together, the Dynamic Duo had made many enemies. Hell, just him being important to the Caped Crusader was enough that any villain would jump at the chance for some revenge. He didn't even want to imagine what they would do if they got their hands on him.

Anya seemed to guess what he was thinking, because her lips quirked up into a small not-quite-smile, "I'm sure the Batman will pay quite a large ransom for your safe return once I contact him." She pointed at the plate, "Now eat."

"Just how do you plan to do that?" The boy questioned as he hesitantly reached for the plate, poking at the eggs distaste fully before nibbling at a piece of toast. It didn't _look_ poisoned...but he still wasn't hungry.

Nevertheless, he tried, remembering how easily the woman had flown into a rage when he didn't listen to her the last time.

"This." He looked up, and his heart dropped when he saw her holding up his glove, the one with his holographic computer built into it. No, it wasn't possibly, only he, Bruce and Alfred knew how to...

"In your delirious state you told me all I needed to know about using it. Apparently loose lips is a symptom of your illness."

Robin shoved the plate away, and sat forward. The woman eyed him warily, as if expecting an attack. He wasn't _that_ stupid, though, he knew he was in no condition to fight. "Don't hurt them. You don't need to trick the League into coming for me."

Goddamn built in GPS.

"Batman isn't going to gamble with my life to catch you."

He was such a liar.

Of course, he knew that Batman wouldn't want to put him in unnecessary danger, but if he thought he already was, he would definitely take Anya's bait. The team would not allow themselves to be left out of the loop, and if they demanded to come...

The team... _his_ team...

... _Wally_.

Hands balling up in the blanket that covered his legs, the young teen found himself once more forcing down the heartache that threatened to consume him. He couldn't let anyone else get hurt because of him.

"You don't have to do this," Robin figured he would try reasoning, having few options available at this point. "By now Batman will know everything there is to about you, and so will the police. Your face is probably plastered everywhere, you have an accent and a criminal past, no doubt... Where do you think you can go with that money once you have it?"

Anya's expression changed ever so slightly, and her hand clenched his glove. But she didn't seem angry, just...thoughtful. "Never said I planned to get away, little one. The money is not for myself."

Then why was she doing this?

She seemed to have no intention of hiding anything from him, since she planned on getting caught, at least if he understood correctly.

"What are you going to do once you set up a meeting?"

"That's for me to know, child."

Damn it.

Robin needed her to tell him something, anything that would help him figure out her motives. He needed to find out more about her.

"Is Anya your real name?" Had to start somewhere, after all.

The blonde stared at him with barely concealed suspicion, "It is a nickname," she finally told him.

"For Anastasia?"

A nod.

"Why did you do this, Anya?" He wasn't as good at figuring people out as his mentor, but maybe he could connect with her just enough that she would feel remorse or hesitate in her actions, giving him the option to negotiate... or escape.

She scowled, "You already know why."

Just what game was the boy playing at?

"I don't mean that." He already knew she took him for the money, but he probably should have been less vague. "Why did you become a criminal in the first place? I understand the economy in Russia is bad, but-"

Robin was startled by her sudden derivisve snort, "Child, you have _no idea_ what you are saying. I didn't turn to crime for the _money_ , I did it because I had no other choice. It was survival, or death."

The brunette shook his head at that, almost sadly, "There's always another choice." Breaking the law and ruining your own life in the process was never the only option. At least...it shouldn't be.

"Coming from someone like you, that's rather naïve."

A frown appeared on his face. Someone like him... As if she could possibly know. "What do you mean?"

She gave him a look that made the sick boy feel uncomfortable: a mix of pity and exasperation. "You and your friends and your handlers are all the same. Your intentions are noble, yes, but I doubt you can really understand. You honestly seem to believe there is always other options, but that's because you _don't know_ what it's like..."

Circling the bed, she moved closer as Robin shuffled away, pressing his back against the headboard.

"Say it to the woman who lost her son and husband when a gas tanker impacted their family car while she was in labor at the hospital waiting for them. Tell _her_ she has other options when the hospital bills that have left her bankrupt means she either steals from her neighbours or lets Children's Services take away her baby because she can't afford to feed her. Tell her she has a choice when all she has are her memories of her loved ones, and she can't even visit their graves because there was nothing left to bury after the explosion."

She was leaning closer to him, her face inches from his, gray eyes piercing wide blue ones, "What about the man who was saddled with his half-sister's child when she turned up dead in an alley with her throat slashed because the John she had left with that evening had been high on cocaine? He has three of his own children and an ex wife who took him for everything, and demands more each month. If he didn't enter a bank and put his gun to his own head when he realized the police had him surrounded, what was he meant to do? What are people to do when a government that would execute criminals simply stands by and allows people to suffer until they are desperate enough to kill and steal for their survival?"

Robin had shrunk back as much as he could, genuinely at a loss for words.

Anya reached out and, ignoring his flinch, brushed her fingertips over the large purplish bruise on his jaw. Her gaze softened slightly. "What is a little girl to do when she finds out she killed her own mother when she was born?" Her voice was etched in pain. "How is she meant to cope when her father plays the grieving widower so well that no one possibly suspected that at night he would creep into his six-year-old daughter's bedroom, and even as she cowered from him he would tell her _not to make a_ _sound?_ "

A look of horrified disbelief appeared on the boy's face as it finally sunk in what she was saying to him. He knew there were sick people out there, but he never thought to _that_ degree. "Your...your father-"

"Indeed." She straightened her back, a look of cold indifference on her face now.

Out of the two of them, Robin began to realize, he wasn't the only one who wore mask. "His death was initially ruled a suicide until his connections to the mafia were uncovered. Only then was his body exhumed and the C.O. changed to homicide. I ran away from my foster home when I was a teenager. Well, that's not exactly true. ...They kicked me out after I became a drug addict." It disturbed him that she was speaking as though this were a regular childhood memory. "I didn't have any money. I was hungry and in withdrawal, so when a man offered to give me whatever I needed to entertain his friends... how could I afford to refuse?"

Apathetic.

"Why..." The brunette's voice caught in his throat, and he cleared it with a wince, "Why are you telling me this?"

Gray eyes lingered on him for a moment, before glancing away, "I wanted you to understand. You're still young, it's not too late."

"Not too late for what?" He pressed, anxiously.

"For you to realize that just because someone _willingly_ went into the wrong side of the law, the laws created by the more fortunate of us, it doesn't mean they truly had a _choice_. It means they were at a point where nothing else seemed to work, where the entire world was out to get them, and they were desperate. I don't expect you to condone it, it would go against your beliefs after all..."

But she wanted empathy for them, for those people and herself she spoke of, all with similar stories no doubt.

All those years of working with Batman, and he would frequently wonder as to how people could do some of the things they did, why they were so crazy... But rarely did he look at them and understand that they could have, once, been normal human beings who had been dealt a bad hand in life.

They weren't _born_ monsters, at least...not al of them, right?

Checking the time, Anya sighed, "I must get going now." She moved forwards again, and before Robin question what she was doing, her lips were on his forehead, reminding him of how his mother would check his temperature when he was little, and how she would say goodnight.

Memories suddenly overwhelmed him, but his eyes snapped open when he heard two small clicks, and he looked down, to see each of his wrists handcuffed to the headboard, "Hey!"

She obviously didn't want him contacting Batman before she did, but God did he ever hate being restrained.

Almost apologetically, Anya smiled, before she stepped out of the bedroom and closed the door. Once more, the boy was left by himself. Truth be told, she was quite glad she wouldn't have to kill him. Something about his eyes reminded her of, well, of someone she had said goodbye to long ago.

Very quickly did she push those thoughts aside, and wondered where she would go next. This was her last job, she knew. She would drop the money off, and then retire, somewhere far from all her memories and her pain.

Paris was supposed to be quite lovely...

* * *

 **Sorry for any spelling mistakes. My laptop finally gave out and this was typed entirely on an iPod Touch's screen. Yes, it sucked, but I'm determined to keep updating while waiting for a new one on Christmas.**

 **Please be sure to leave a review and let me know what you think so far. Your tips and comments keep me motivated so I won't slack off!**

 **-Luna**


	14. Pain & Empathy

**All My Friends Are Superheroes**

 **Summary** : Being a teenaged hero is no walk in the park; juggling school, homework, superpowers, friends and family can be tough, especially when you and your secret boyfriend are tiptoeing around teammates, parents and mentors. However, sometimes in life you have to just stop worrying, and let the stones fall where they may. It might not be that bad, after all. Season 1. AU/OOC. Birdflash.

 **Point Of View** : Third person's POV, set in past tense/story format, with dreams/thoughts italicized. The focus will mainly be on Robin and Kid Flash, of course, but I fully plan to further explore their interactions with the team, and also with their JLA mentors. Story starts after the team has been established, right after the end of their first official mission together.

* * *

 _"It has been said 'time heals all wounds.' I do not agree. The wounds remain. In time, the mind, protecting its sanity, covers them with scar tissue and the pain lessens. But it is never gone." - Rose Kennedy_

* * *

The Dark Knight had been on the Watchtower when he got the alert.

He had been there all morning, attempting to find some clues about where to look for Robin next by using the satellite's highly advanced surveillance equipment, looking over footage taken from the Black Orchid hotel in Star City. It showed his boy getting dragged out of the building by the man they were looking for. The fact that he didn't seem to be trying to fight back or even run away was troubling, but considering he had just seen his best friend get shot, it was to be expected.

Seeing the man knock him out using a sleeper hold and lock him into the trunk of a car did nothing but make his blood pressure rise. His concern for his young partner and adopted son made him focus harder than he could ever remember on his task.

It was because of this that he almost didn't hear the beeping sound.

When he did, however, any and all thoughts of the screens before him fled his mind as he checked the blinking light on his mini computer, looking it over twice, and then a third time, just to make sure he wasn't reading it wrong. Robin's GPS had turned back on, the one built into his holographic glove computer, as well as the one in his communicator earpiece. As soon as he'd processed the location it was telling him, Batman was on his feet and racing for the nearest Zeta beam.

"Batman calling Mount Justice. HOJ slash Watchtower. Designation 02; priority red."

* * *

The GPS tracker led them to an old storage facility near Santa Monica.

Despite everything that Mello had told him about the woman known as Anastasia Ivanova, which was mostly all backed up by her long criminal history, a part of Batman was still bracing himself to find Robin's corpse in the warehouse, mutilated and unrecognizable. It had, after all, been more than twenty four hours since he'd last been seen.

When it came to his partner, the Dark Knight was _always_ wary, doubly so considering this was a new enemy he was facing, one that he knew little about when compared to Joker, Poison Ivy, Two-Face, Bane, etc. At least with the Clown Prince, while his instability made him somewhat unpredictable, his fixation with the Batman meant he loved playing mind games, causing him to get reckless and slip up occasionally.

But Anya was meticulous, and unless something managed to rattle her badly enough she wasn't about to make a mistake that would lead to her getting caught.

Which was why he wasn't all that surprised when the only thing that was waiting for them, alongside Robin's utility belt, gloves and communicator, was a prepaid cell phone.

The others kept on searching the property while Batman stepped outside to make the call, there was one phone number already programmed into it. He made sure his temper was in check before he rang the digits.

 _"Hello, Batman."_ A woman's voice soon greeted in heavily accented English, _"So, the child didn't lie when he explained how to use those devices. Good, I was afraid it wouldn't work."_

The vigilante considered her words for a moment, frowning.

Robin would never willingly give out valuable information, he knew that for certain, so something was very wrong (assuming that she wasn't just lying to get into his head). If it had been a plan of his to get the Russian to leave him alone, he would have escaped by now... but that was unlikely given that the accomplice, Pyotr Andreyev, would probably be watching him.

"Anastasia." Batman answered, somewhat stiffly. This wasn't the first time he would have to play hostage negotiator, not even for his own child's life. But just because he'd done it before, didn't mean it was ever _easy_. "Or do you prefer Anya?" Establishing a connection and empathizing with a kidnapper was usually recommended, but that was if it was someone under duress - like if their crime had been committed in a heat-of-the-moment act.

This hadn't been. Not really. At least part of it was premeditated, since she was obviously the one in charge.

Pyotr was the muscle, Anya was the brains.

She would be too smart to trick, so honestly communicating with her to find out what she wanted would be his only option while the others searched for, and hopefully found, something that could give them a clue as to where she was keeping Robin.

He heard traffic on her end of the phone, she was on a busy route, but that didn't give him anything to go by. There was no distinctive sounds. _"Anya is fine."_ She replied, _"I have to say, when I first learned that it was three children that had infiltrated my little operation, I was surprised. Impressed, even. Are your friends in the League of Justice aware that you send little boys to do your dirty work?"_

The tone she used was antagonistic; the game had begun.

"I didn't send them," He replied evenly, "But then, you knew that already."

A pause, followed by a quiet chuckle, _"Yes, I suppose I did. Your sidekick is very...brave, he tried not to speak, but in the end my persuasion won. It always does."_

The image of a grown woman stabbing his son in the shoulder and torturing him when verbal interrogation alone wasn't enough assaulted his mind, and Batman found himself fighting down his temper, "Is Robin okay?"

 _"He's alive."_

The _for now_ didn't need to be added, he heard it in her voice.

"You didn't answer my question," he pointed out, struggling to keep himself calm. If she heard the edge in his voice it would only goad her into playing with him more. He needed real answers, maybe then he could focus on getting her to slip, even just a little, and provide some sort of hint.

 _"...He is quite sick,"_ Anya eventually told him, which came as a slight surprise, because he hadn't thought that she would answer. _"Pneumonia, I believe."_ Batman cursed internally when he heard that. _"When I left he was awake and talking... but he requires proper medical care."_ Was that... did he imagine it, or did her voice take on a guilty tone just then? He didn't think she was capable, but maybe he'd pegged her wrong. It was possible she empathized with children, simply because of her own difficult childhood. Hmm...

"You're right, he does. Maybe you and I can work something out so we can get Robin the help he needs."

There was a smirk in her voice she responded, _"I would like that very much, Batman."_

* * *

Kid Flash hated feeling helpless.

 _Especially_ when it came to his best friend.

The League had left Mount Justice for California a while ago. Batman, Superman, Black Canary and several others had gone to meet up with Green Arrow and Flash, who were still searching for Robin, to track down his GPS signal. He was pissed off that they wouldn't let him go. Robin was a member of _their_ team, and yet they were meant to just sit there and do _nothing_.

Batman had promised him personally to keep them all updated on the situation in Santa Monica, but that just wasn't good enough!

He was more than slightly aggravated, to say the least, not to mention worried.

Eventually, Mello seemed to notice, because he looked up from the television and gave an irritated noise, "Will you stop with the speed-pacing already? I'm getting nauseated just watching you, and you're creating a draft." He sounded so blasé, and it was kind of infuriating and confusing at the same time, considering the blonde one had been the most urgent last night about finding his friend before something horrible could happen, and now he was acting like he didn't care.

"SORRY!" Wally exclaimed sarcastically, "I didn't realize my heart-stopping fear for Robin was cutting into your shitty reality show!" He was vibrating, the redhead was well aware of that fact. But he didn't seem able to control it at the moment, he needed to let off steam _somehow_.

"Look, man, if you want to help the League that badly, Matt can help you out."

Wally turned to look at the other ginger, who was completely spaced out, focusing on whatever game he had been playing for the last several hours. Raising an eyebrow, he turned back to Mello with a frown.

Rolling his eyes, the blonde elbowed the other redhead in the side, snapping him out of his trance, "Huh? What?"

"Matty, Kid here needs to know where exactly the Capes ran off to, think you can hack into their system and pick up the signal from the GPS they were using?"

"Hm? Oh, sure, piece of cake." Matt saved his game and tossed it aside, getting off the couch. His back made a terrible clicking sound when he straightened it for the first time in hours. Adjusting the goggles over his eyes, he turned to face the speedster, "I'm a little out of practice, but that shouldn't be a problem though. Lead the way, Baby Flash."

Wally drew his eyebrows together in confusion at the nickname, and he might have questioned it had his heart not been pounding in his ears currently. This guy was a hacker like Robin? Which...which meant that he could find out where the others went, and maybe he could help figure out a way to save his best friend before it was too late. He ignored the part of his brain, the more pessimistic side, that told him it might already be too late. Why else wouldn't they have heard from the League yet? Something had to be wrong.

No, he couldn't think like that, he had to hold onto the belief that Robin would be okay.

* * *

"You're kidding me."

Wally was staring at the other redhead in disbelief, because there was no way what he just said could have been true. He had managed to track down the League easily enough, they were at some old abandoned warehouse just outside Santa Monica. He'd been about to run, when Matt had also told him that there was more. Something fishy going on.

Why hadn't the League contacted them yet?

A phone conversation, specifically, where one side was a disposable cell phone, and the other was an encrypted one that was bouncing its signal off of several different cell towers throughout the state.

"I don't get it - aren't encrypted phones untraceable?"

Matt had a smirk on his face as he tapped away furiously at the keys, "Usually, yes, but where there's a will, there's a way... I've got mad skills, and your kidnapper is currently driving on the Pacific Coast Highway. She's an idiot if she used a car still in her name, and...Oh, no. No freakin' way." He pushed his goggles up and squinted at the screen, "You've got to be - that bitch took my car! Well, one of them..."

"What?!" Wally zipped over to the computer and stared at the screen in shock, "How do you _know_ that?"

"Live satellite feed. You've got a pretty sweet set up here, everything is state of the art and seriously expensive. Oh, and that's _definitely_ my ride." He pointed to a red one on the video, "It's a 1968 Chevrolet Camaro, RS/SS. If she damages it in anyway..."

He couldn't believe it... the other boy had actually found her.

The hope that bloomed in his chest was nearly paralyzing, "I-I have to go."

"Well? Then go!" He encouraged, offering a cheery smile. "If Mr. Roboto asks, I'll cover for you."

Giving a slight nod, feeling more grateful than he could express with words, the speedster took off.

They had a chance at finding his best friend now, and he couldn't let the opportunity slide by. When he got his hands on those freaks they were going to regret ever laying eyes on Robin!

* * *

"How do I know that he's still alive?" Batman asked Anya, when she first mentioned money.

They'd been on the phone for nearly half an hour, and he knew she was trying to stall for time.

Already knowing that it was what she wanted, he was fully prepared to arrange a trade off, if he could get Robin back and apprehend her at the same time, then it would just be killing two birds with one stone, so to speak (more like killing one bird and rescuing another). But she seemed reluctant to offer any proof that he was actually okay.

 _"You don't."_ She answered simply, _"But you're going to have to trust me, Batman. I don't hurt children if it can be avoided. He is worth more to me alive anyways. Oh, and if you try to send one of your costumed companions to trick me, I will know it, and I'll have Pyotr kill him before you ever find out where he is."_ Her threat seemed real, but there was still a hesitance in her tone.

"I-" He was about to speak again, but something stopped him.

Tires screeching, car horns honking, and Anya swearing audibly in Russian - he could also hear the phone she was using being dropped, but luckily it didn't break upon impact.

Shouting.

Pressing the cell a little closer to his ear, he was trying to piece together what was going on, when he heard laboured breathing on the other side.

"Batman?" A very familiar voice addressed, panting, "I-I got her! I got her and I'm bringing her to the warehouse."

It was Kid Flash, and the vigilante almost wished he could say that this was the first time the impatient speedster had caught him by surprise, but it would have been a lie. It wasn't even the first time this _month_. He had ordered the team to stay at Mount Justice because he didn't want to risk anyone else getting hurt, or worse, by the two maniacs.

The teenager was nothing, if not determined.

Maybe Robin wasn't in the wrong for revealing his identity to him.

* * *

Interrogating Anya had led to nowhere, fast.

Almost immediately after Kid Flash had arrived at the storage building with the woman in handcuffs, she had clammed up, refusing to speak at all. He tried his usual tactics, but the Russian was a stoic. She wasn't afraid of prison, and he already knew that because of her upbringing, threats of violence would do nothing but bring out even more defiance.

The young speedster had asked to speak with her, but Flash had outright refused, and he was inclined to agree with him. The redhead had been the one to capture her, and while that _was_ impressive, she would likely not be any more cooperative with him for that reason alone.

Eventually, knowing that Robin was slowly running out of time, and that they were running out of options, he'd asked Martian Manhunter to join them at the warehouse and sift through her mind.

Anything that they didn't already know would help. Batman didn't want to admit that he was starting to get desperate, but...

When J'onn had arrived, he was very clear that he made no promises about what he could learn. Some minds were more difficult to penetrate than others, more naturally resistant to telepathy, and it could turn out that there was nothing he could do. But all the Dark Knight wanted was for him to _try_. He believed Anya when she said that Robin had Pneumonia, simply because lying about that wouldn't have benefitted her in anyway. If she had been trying to worry him about his partner's health to make a trade more likely, she could have just as easily lied about an injury.

The fact that an untreated case of Influenza could lead to Viral Pneumonia only made him certain that she spoke the truth.

If he was really sick, they needed to get to him, and soon.

So now, they stood across the room from the Russian girl, who was glaring daggers at the Martian. She didn't seem afraid of his appearance in the least, her expression was one of anger.

He knew why.

When their backs had been turned for just a moment, she managed to somehow get her cuffed hands in front of her. She'd overheard them talking about J'onn's mind reading ability, and that seemed to make her panic, because the next thing they knew, J'onn had her pinned against the wall with his telekinesis, after catching a glimpse of her lifting a shard of glass to her own throat.

Clearly, she didn't want anyone in her head.

Everything was absolutely silent in the warehouse for a good ten minutes.

"She is resisting..." J'onn informed them, a look of concentration on his face. "I can see Robin in her mind-"

"Where is he?" Kid Flash blurted out anxiously as soon as he heard that, "Is he okay?! How..."

Batman silenced the boy with a look, knowing the Martian needed to be able to focus. It was out of courtesy that he was giving them a play-by-play of what he was seeing. J'onn didn't seem particularly bothered, but he shook his head slightly at the questions, "I don't know that, yet. She is blocking the location from me. But I can show you-"

His mind was suddenly filled with the last image of his young partner that Anya had: Robin seemed confused and shocked about something, and was handcuffed to a headboard. But the room they were in didn't tell them anything about where he was. It could have been anywhere in California within driving distance of this location. Truth be told, Batman was more concerned with his ward's appearance. He was so _pale_ , so sickly looking. The fact that his mask had been removed was surprising, but if Anya knew Robin's true identity than she would have tried to blackmail Bruce Wayne. Considering she hadn't been in the country very long, and Dick had only been in the news in the beginning when the adoption was first heard of, she probably didn't know who either of them were.

 _"She's hiding something."_ J'onn informed them telepathically, _"It's not about Robin, but she's worried we'll find out anyway. I'm going to try to break past her mental barrier..."_

More silence, until Anya suddenly let out a sharp cry, doubling over and looking distressed, and memories that weren't his own appeared in their heads.

 _There was a girl, no older than eight or nine, gray eyes filled with tears. Anya. She was sitting on her bed, shoulders trembling, and a similar-looking man sat beside her. He smiled lovingly and brushed her white-blonde hair back, resting his hand on her knee. She seemed terrified by his very presence. The hand started to slide up, under her skirt... the image suddenly changed. Anya was a little older in this one, standing in front of a grave with a blank expression._

 _Standing beside her, a formally-dressed woman put a hand on her shoulder, and she stiffened slightly at the contact. "It is time to go, Anastasia. Your new family awaits."_

 _Taking one last glance at the headstone of her father, she shrugged off the unwanted comforting gesture and walked ahead, muttering, "Can't be any worse than the last one."_

J'onn managed to uncover several other key details that hadn't been part of Anya's known history. From age twelve to age fifteen she moved from foster home to foster home, something he did know. They saw images of her, actually smiling, as she walked hand in hand with a boy. His name was Vladimir, and from the Martian's mental translation of the Russian language, they learned that he, too, was an orphan, living in the same home as her.

A few minutes later, murmuring broke out among the group.

So... _that_ was Anya's secret.

Maybe there was a chance she would tell them where Robin was, after all.

* * *

Batman cleared the warehouse before going to talk to Anya.

From what he now knew about her, it seemed more likely that she would open up if she didn't have an audience listening in. From outside, Superman would be able to hear anything, just in case he missed something that could be perceived as important, however likely that was. With this new information, he was fairly certain he could get her to give up.

The documents that he had just finished reading were ones that had been kept hidden from his initially background search on her because they had been made confidential, upon her request.

As soon as he was a few feet from Anya, he crouched down to where she was sitting, and looked her in the eyes, "I know why you wanted that money, Anya."

Her expression flashed with worry for a moment, but she concealed it rather quickly, and gave him an arrogant smirk, "Shopping, of course. Do they not say that diamonds are a woman's best friend?" She was trying to cover up her fear, because she knew that he knew, and it frightened her. Did she honestly think that he was going to threaten her with her "Secret"? Batman had crossed _plenty_ of lines in his career, but hurting a child was not one of them.

Not having time to do this gently, he brought up the image he'd saved on his wrist computer, but took no pleasure in the spasm of pain that passed over her face, "How long have you known your son was dying for?"

From what he and J'onn learned, Anya had given birth to Alexiel just shy of her sixteenth birthday. Her last foster family had forced her to give the baby up for adoption. Despite her drug addiction, she'd been adamant about keeping him, and the choice being taken out of her hands was what prompted her to act out.

The records said that she had run away, but that was a lie. After receiving the money from the family who had privately adopted Alexiel, they kicked her out into the streets. That was why she became a prostitute. It made a lot more sense. Her desire to extort money from him became clearer when he discovered that the boy, who had moved to the U.S. with his family a couple years before she was released from prison, was suffering from a congenital defect of the heart, possibly due to the narcotics she had been taking before giving birth.

He had been ill most of his life, and Anya had been sending them money anonymously for the past several months. But now he needed a transplant. The waiting list was long, and going to the black market meant bankrupting yourself in order to save your child.

It looked like he and Mello had _both_ pegged her wrong, it wasn't just a game.

Not to her, anyways.

* * *

All of this waiting was making Wally feel sick with nervousness.

Batman had forced them all to leave the warehouse so he could talk to the woman alone. He didn't like empathizing with the bad guys, but seeing her memories through Martian Manhunter made things a lot more understandable.

Her father had been abusive, that was something that he could relate to. Granted, his only got drunk and beat the crap out of him. He was aware it could be much worse than that. But it didn't mean he didn't understand what it was like to love and hate someone at the same time, because they made you miserable and afraid. He also knew what it was like to have someone you trusted take advantage of you and break your spirit.

They'd been standing outside for what felt like ever, and he was pacing again.

Eventually, he couldn't take it anymore, and zipped into the warehouse while the others were distracted. Only Superman might have noticed him leave, but if he did, he didn't protest. Maybe he could feel the determination radiating off of the impatient speedster in waves.

"You need to tell us where Robin is." Kid Flash told the lady as soon as he was in front of her, ignoring the glare he could feel Batman aiming at the back of his head. "And you need to tell us right _now_."

The blonde woman stared up at him for a moment in silence, "Why?"

"What do you mean, _why?_ You left him with a crazy murderous pervert while he was sick and defenseless! He'll be dead soon if we don't get to him! Are you telling me that you don't you care at all?"

She gave a little shrug, and winced slightly when it put strain on her shoulders from the handcuffs. Good, maybe then she would feel a fraction of the discomfort her goons had put Robin through.

How could he make her understand...?

It wasn't that Wally didn't feel bad for what she had gone through, but it sure as hell didn't excuse causing an innocent person to suffer!

"Listen to me," He said, trying to keep calm and resist the urge to start screaming at her. "Robin is _thirteen_. He doesn't deserve _any_ of this. Do you know that he lost his parents when he was only nine? There's no one really left to his family but him. His mom used to read him stories when he was little and sick, to make him feel better, 'cause that's what good parents do. But now he doesn't have them anymore, and he doesn't have _us_ either right now, so he's all alone."

"Kid Flash..."

Wally _nearly_ cringed at the voice that Batman addressed him with, but he wasn't about to stop. Even if it meant he'd be in huge trouble later. He could see that Anya or _whatever her name is_ was starting to listen. She might not care what happened to Robin, but he would _make_ her care, somehow.

"I know what your father did to you." Her eyes widened at that. "I know how you feel, but-"

 _"You know how I feel?!"_ Her voice was nearly a shriek, her expression lethal, "How **_dare_ ** you-"

"It made you feel sick to your stomach." The redhead interrupted her, squaring his shoulders, "Like your insides were full of lead and it was slowly killing you. Sometimes you wished it would. You knew it was wrong but you were helpless to stop it. You tried to wash it all away but you couldn't because it was under your skin."

Anya blinked at him and fell silent. "People always told me I was lucky, for having such a great cookie-cutter family, and I used to get mad at them. My father's an alcoholic who sometimes slips up and beats the shit out of me and Mom." He paused, before adding, "Of course, he wasn't like that until I let my baby sister get hit by a car and die." He tried to keep his voice deadpan when he said that, but his hands still trembled slightly. "They blame me, but I don't mind, because I know it was my fault. I never used to think I was lucky, but I guess now I do. Because, even if they aren't the best in the world, I _know_ they love me. They put up with me and my science experiments and my expensive metabolism and barely ever being around. They never dumped me off in foster care, or starved me, or...did what your Dad did."

He moved a little closer, sitting down so they were eye level. "I can't blame you for being angry and cold about everything that happened to you. I would have turned out that way too, I think, if it weren't for my friends." She now looked confused, and swallowing hard, he tried to tell her in a quiet, even tone that probably came out shaky and not very quiet at all, "My teacher assaulted me when I was in the fifth grade, and he got away with it, because I never told anyone, either."

Anya stared at him with disbelief.

"So, I might not understand _completely_ , but...I do, a little bit. I know how it haunts you, no matter how many years go by, and it makes you afraid to trust other people because they could hurt you too. I know what kind of evil is out there, I never knew that people could be capable of such...cruelty, that they could be so depraved. I do now, though. But Robin..." He let out a breath, "He's just a kid, and he _doesn't_ know. I don't want him to _ever_ know. Your friend is just as twisted as your father and my teacher. I-I need to know where he is. _Please_."

The blonde-haired woman was silent for a moment, before her shoulders slumped and she let out a weary sigh. When she finally looked back at him, her expression was defeated, exhaustion evident in her dark gray eyes. "He's at a former client's house. 1939 Sierra Drive, in Malibu."

Kid Flash nodded his head in thanks, and in seconds was on his feet and tearing out of the warehouse, not stopping to talk to or even _look_ at anybody.

 _I'm coming for you, Rob._

* * *

 **I know this chapter might have seemed rushed, but I had a lot I wanted to add to it and it was getting kind of long, plus my fingers hurt, so... I did say there would be skips, didn't I? These are just some minor ones. I'm also not very good at being Batman, sorry! The next one will be up fairly soon, I'm sure, since I know where I'm taking this story from here.**

 **Leave a review and let me know what you think so far!**


	15. To The Rescue

**All My Friends Are Superheroes**

 **Summary** : Being a teenaged hero is no walk in the park; juggling school, homework, superpowers, friends and family can be tough, especially when you and your secret boyfriend are tiptoeing around teammates, parents and mentors. However, sometimes in life you have to just stop worrying, and let the stones fall where they may. It might not be that bad, after all. Season 1. AU/OOC. Birdflash.

 **Point Of View** : Third person's POV, set in past tense/story format, with dreams/thoughts italicized. The focus will mainly be on Robin and Kid Flash, of course, but I fully plan to further explore their interactions with the team, and also with their JLA mentors. Story starts after the team has been established, right after the end of their first official mission together.

* * *

 _"Of all the animals, man is the only one that is cruel. He is the only one who inflicts pain for the pleasure of doing it." - Mark Twain_

* * *

Something was _very_ wrong.

Robin could tell that as soon as he began to drift into a more conscious state.

The teenaged hero had fallen asleep shortly after Anya left; for how long, he wasn't entirely sure. All he knew was that he felt physically and emotionally exhausted, his sickness and multiple injuries having zapped away most of his energy.

In fact, the only reason he began to wake up was because it was suddenly quite difficult to breathe.

There was something heavy on top of him, weighing him down and making his chest ache worse than the time a roof collapsed on top of him during a mission with Batman when he was eleven. He also felt feverishly hot again. A wet, burning sensation trailed over his jaw, lips and neck. He mumbled incoherently and tried to move away, but something dug into his wrists, making him huff in pain and annoyance.

Damn handcuffs, Robin had almost managed to forget about them.

He'd slid down further on the bed before zonking out, with his arms still restrained above his head, so as to get somewhat more comfortable. The blonde woman hadn't really thought this through, leaving him in such an awkward position. After reluctantly accepting that he wasn't able to reach the bedside table and look for something sharp to pick the locks with (the fork wouldn't fit, he'd tried it already), he didn't really have much else he could do besides try to gain some of his strength back.

"Finally," He heard a familiar, rough voice mutter into his ear, making him frown slightly. "I thought she'd _never_ fucking leave."

It was Pyotr!

But... _what was going on?_

Robin's eyes snapped right open as he suddenly became wide awake, realizing with a start that the crushing weight pinning him down was due to the large Russian man currently sitting on top of him. Pyotr was _on_ him, and he was doing... _stuff_.

 _What... what the heck?_

"Hey! What are you-? Get _off_ of me!"

His initial reaction to just start panicking was born out of instinct alone. The boy immediately struggled, trying to get the mobster off, jerking against his handcuffs and ignoring the sharp pain of the metal digging into his flesh (the fact that one of his wrists were broken didn't help at all).

"I don't think so," The mobster chuckled, one of his hands slid down the front of the teenager's tunic, pulling one of the yellow clasps open, the fingers of his other hand began tugging down the zipper. "I've been waiting for this..."

The thirteen-year-old tensed slightly, unmasked eyes widening.

Pyotr's lips turned up into a smirk; a dark, predatory look on the Russian man's face as his gaze roamed the young hero, sensing the fear and confusion radiating off of the boy, and soaking it in.

"W-What are you _doing?_ " Robin demanded, a slight quiver in his voice that he hoped the psychopath didn't catch. "Stop it."

There was no response from the man, he merely undid the second and third clasps of the boy's uniform, unzipping it all the way, and yanking it open afterwards to expose Robin's slim torso. His eyes raked over the pale skin of his small but muscular body.

Unable to help himself, he lifted his left hand and rested it on the middle of the raven-haired teen's smooth, hairless chest, dragging his fingertips slowly over his taught stomach, and circling his navel with an expression that was almost feral, enjoying the way Robin flushed and wriggled around in discomfort, biting at his lower lip as he pulled harder at his handcuffs to no avail.

"Quit _touching_ me!"

With an amused snort, Pyotr leaned forward, causing him to flinch, but he merely lowered his face to the side of Robin's head, inhaling the scent of his hair for a moment, and whispered softly in his ear, "I'm going to do far more than just _touch_ you..." As he said this, the hand not currently bracing himself on the mattress proceeded to skim across the inside of the hero's thigh, slowly.

"Leave me alone! I _said_ stop-AH!" Robin yelped when the Russian's hand suddenly fondled him through his tights, instinctively trying to press his legs together, only to realize for the first time since he woke up that his ankles were tied to the bed posts, keeping them forcefully spread open, leaving him vulnerable.

"S-Stop!" A dark blush rose on his cheeks as the man continued to grope him, focused on the area between his thighs, and the raven-haired teenager squirmed, twisting his body and bucking up in an attempt to dislodge his assailant and those invasive, wandering _hands_. "Get _OFF!_ "

Laughing coldly, Pyotr dragged his hand up to the waist of the brunette's tights, fingering the elastic band around his hips, "Oh, I _fully_ intend to." The tone of his voice was impossible to mistake this time, the cruelty and the sickness... the lust.

The thirteen-year-old boy froze suddenly as a wave of realization crashed down on him, and several pieces of a puzzle put themselves together in his mind. It made things so much more horrifyingly clear.

Overhearing what the grunts said from the air vents... How they had spoke of a man named "Petey". Pyotr and Peter were very similar names. An alias, perhaps? It sounded like they were fine with letting him hurt their captives, so long as it meant _they_ wouldn't be the ones on the recieving end.

 _"You sure the newest shipment will be safe down there with you-know-who?"_

 _"Better the prisoners than us."_

Near's barely concealed fear as he tried to tell him about the man. How quick he was to get out of sight and not be heard despite his firm belief that his friends would keep him safe. Safe from being killed, perhaps, but maybe _that_ wasn't what he had been afraid of. He'd tried to warn Robin about something...

 _"You should also know that he is-"_

What about Mello's cautious attitude in the infirmary? How he had been looking at Robin as if he were addressing a cornered animal, or... or a victim of assault. His head had been fuzzy still from the drugs that had been given to him for the pain, not to mention he had still been sick. He had misunderstood what the blonde meant.

 _"He didn't... touch you, did he?"_

Oh God, it was so obvious. Why hadn't he figured it out before now? He had been trained by the world's greatest detective, after all. Was he really _that_ naïve? Then again, maybe he was better off being blissfully unaware, because now he _did_ know what the man was planning to do...

...and it terrified him.

Robin was violently snapped out of his thoughts when the man suddenly seized his jaw, and he barely had time to process what was happening before Pyotr's mouth covered his own. He made a muffled noise of protest and tried to turn his head away, but the grip was too strong, fingers digging painfully into his skin.

A tongue forced its way past his lips and he didn't even hesitate before biting down, _hard_ , immediately tasting blood as a result.

"You little bitch!" Pulling back with a snarl, Pyotr delivered a sharp blow to his temple, causing bright lights to explode in front of his vision. Before he could fully recover, two strong hands suddenly wrapped around his throat, and the brunette's eyes opened even wider as his air supply was cut off abruptly.

For the first time since this whole mess began, he actually wished Anya was with him. She might have been violent and disturbed in her own way, but he knew at least with her he'd be safe, the man seemed to listen to her for some reason.

His body thrashed on the bed, yanking desperately at his bonds as he tried to get away, his chest already felt like it was burning, and the boy could feel his lungs straining his, aching from the unfulfilled need to breathe. He knew panicking would only make it that much worse, but - God, it hurt _so much_ , and Robin was sure he was on the brink of passing out before his neck was finally released.

Choking on a series of long, painful gasps, the teenager sat up as well as he could in his position, trying to get in as much oxygen as possible.

"That's a mistake you won't make again..." Pyotr told him, his voice was positively dangerous now, and he held up something for the boy to see. A pen-shaped object that he pushed down on. There was a quiet 'click' noise, before a shiny, triangular silver blade popped up. "I'll cut out your tongue next, brat!"

A twisted grin appeared on his face when those words made his captive pale, and he lowered the blade, sliding it along the raven-haired hero's hip, trailing it diagonally downwards and leaving tiny pink scratches, catching the black fabric of his tights and pulling back. It ripped away with ease, and the more the Russian pulled at it, the more of the teen's soft white skin was exposed.

Robin's breath hitched noticeably as the tip of the knife slowly moved upwards, cutting more of the material, his heart was hammering in his chest so fast it hurt.

The guy was obviously taking his time to make it that much worse for him.

 _No, no, no!_

"...But first, I'm going to _fuck_ you until you can't even move!"

Fear enveloped him.

It was so strong that it made it harder to breathe than when he was being manually strangled by the lunatic a few minutes ago. He felt sick to his stomach. The man was more than three times his age! Oh God, he _really_ wished Anya was here.

He flinched almost violently when Pyotr slid the knife up, running the flat end over the boy's belly and along his abdomen and then his chest, moving it lightly over the raised flesh of his nipples, causing goosebumps to crawl all over Robin, and a feeling of dread and terror settled in the pit of his stomach like a brick as it finally started to sink in that he _wasn't_ getting out of this situation.

But he would _not_ give up, there had to be _something_ that he could-

Wait, that was it!

In his freakout earlier, Robin had neglected to notice that one of his handcuffs was looser than the other due to being fitted over his wrist splint. If he could distract the man long enough to shimmy it out of the restraint, and if he was lucky to land a good, hard punch, he could snatch the knife and use the tip to pick his other cuff and free himself!

Planning things was easy, though, executing them was something else entirely.

The young boy tried very hard not to panic, but those hands were _everywhere_. Caressing and stroking... It was so _wrong..._ Robin shuddered when he felt hot, heavy breathing in his ear, nausea rolling through him as the man kissed his neck, holding back a cry of pain when Pyotr bit down and sucked at his skin.

Bile rose in his throat, threatening to choke him, and he swallowed it down with some difficulty.

"Since you seem to like birds so much, maybe I should carve you up like one?" The man mused, sliding the tiny blade along the boy's throat, not pressing hard enough to cut, but it still made Robin hold his breath.

"Your skin is really quite lovely. Pale and smooth, like a porcelain doll. I bet you would bleed well." He sighed, running his fingertips over the bruises on the boy's neck. "I don't want to mark it up anymore until I've had my fun, though. Your eyes, on the other hand... Such pretty blues... Maybe I should take one of them with me as a souvenir?" The mobster suddenly brought the knife up to the corner of the teen's eye, causing him to become as still as a statue.

Terror turned his blood into ice at the thought, but Robin had a small sliver of hope now, and he had to go through with it or he was as good as dead. That was the one thing he knew for sure, that whatever sick and depraved things this man would do to him, he would not be left alive afterwards.

But his gut told him he probably wouldn't _want_ to be, anyways, so he _had_ to make this work.

One advantage he tended to have over his enemies was that they often underestimated him because he was young and small, he only hoped he could use that now.

"Please don't... I-" The teenager found he didn't have to work too hard at sounding rattled. He was hardly even acting, the waver in his voice was from genuine fear. "-I'll do whatever you want, just... don't hurt me." He swallowed back his disgust at the excited gleam in Pyotr's eyes. The man was clearly buying it up, he seemed to be getting off on the power and control.

 _Sicko_.

Near was right, Anya _was_ the smart one.

"Fine." The man leaned closer, once again invading his space impossibly more than he'd already done so, and Robin could feel the warmth of his breath, the scent of cigarettes made him wrinkle his nose. "Kiss me." He commanded, fingering the penknife in an attempt to petrify the boy even further.

Robin squeezed his eyes shut tight, trying not to let his complete revulsion show, and leaned forward to reluctantly press his mouth to his captor's. His lips trembled slightly when he did so, prompting the man to laugh deep in his throat, amused by his fright. He fought not to gag when Pyotr shoved his tongue back into his mouth, but didn't bite down again despite how much his instincts _screamed_ at him to do just that.

Fingers grabbed at his hair, pulling his face closer to the man's, and he could barely breathe. _Don't think about it,_ he chanted in his mind, _Free yourself, you can worry about everything else later._

As soon as he was sure that the Russian man was occupied, he attempted to blindly wriggle his wrist out of its cuff without drawing attention to what he was doing.

 _C'mon... Just a little more..._

The man glided his tongue over the boy's teeth, still roughly gripping his hair to press their mouths together harder, enough to bruise, but he couldn't focus on the awfulness of this situation. It was just a sacrifice he'd have to make for the sake of survival.

Nothing a few counselling sessions with Black Canary couldn't fix.

Well, that's what he thought, up until he felt Pyotr begin tugging at what little was left of his torn up tights.

His heart went to his throat.

 _Oh, God, he's...he's going to... No! I need more time!_

Never let it be said that Robin, for all of his extensive training on how to handle stressful situations, was immune to making bad, panicky decisions. Not even if it meant not botching his own escape plan.

 _DON'T TOUCH ME!_

Jerking as hard as he could at the handcuffs, adrenaline racing in his veins, Robin nearly cried out in relief when he felt his throbbing, broken wrist slip through the restraint. Ignoring the pain, he balled his hand into a fist and drove it as hard as he could into the man's jaw.

Now, he didn't have anything close to Superboy's brute strength, but the force he put behind the punch made the Russian's head snap back, causing him to drop the penknife.

Robin stretched forward, fumbling for the blade, and his desperate hope morphed into horrified alarm when the man smacked it away - knocking it further down bed and out of his reach - glaring at him with dark, piercing eyes, a murderous expression on his face.

That was when he knew he'd made a huge mistake.

"I'm sor-" he began, but a stinging slap across the face silenced him.

Snagging his broken wrist in a grip that made the boy whimper in pain, Pyotr bared his teeth in a viscous manner, tightening his hold on the injured limb even further as his free hand moved down and began unbuckling his belt, the sight of which made Robin shake with fear.

"I'll make you regret that, you little fucking whore!"

The brunette's throat closed up, but he still managed to scream, any thought of his secret identity forgotten. "H-HELP ME! SOMEONE PLEASE HE-" his voice died off to a whimper as the mobster buried his fist into the acrobat's stomach, knocking the wind out of him.

Down went the zipper.

"N-No! Don't, please!" The boy pleaded, tears suddenly filled his eyes as he squirmed fruitlessly. The handcuff and ropes were cutting into his wrist and ankles but he didn't even notice. He couldn't bring himself to care how utterly _pathetic_ he must have looked for the protégé of Batman; he was so scared that his whole body was trembling and he felt like he might pass out. Maybe that would have been preferable. "Oh God... please don't! Y-You don't have to do this!"

There was a sadistic smile on the man's face as he exposed himself to the teen, gripping the boy's chin and running a thumb over his lower lip, savouring the terror coming off of him in waves. "I know that... But I _want_ to."

Robin had his eyes closed, pressing himself back against the headboard, he tried to twist his way out of the grip, refusing to look. His teary blue eyes snapped open when the mobster grabbed his hip and jerked him back down onto the mattress, making him sob in fear.

 _No! S-Someone please help me_ _! I don't want it!_

There was a cold, rough hand stroking his sweat-soaked hair, a cruel voice cooing to him, "I'm gonna make you _bleed_ , bitch."

That was when the bedroom door flew off its hinges.

Heads twisting to the side in startled shock, the would-be rapist and his petrified young victim saw a _very_ familiar teenaged boy dressed in head-to-toe yellow and red spandex.

Kid Flash froze for the better part of a millisecond as he took in the scene before him: his thirteen-year old best friend was laying handcuffed to a headboard, spread eagle with his ankles bound to the posts of the bed. His fear-filled face was red and bruised, tears freely running down his cheeks, the front of his uniform was hanging open, exposing his equally battered chest and abdomen, and his tights were in tatters, particularly around his thighs and...other areas.

The bastard sitting on top of him was holding on to his broken wrist with a tightness that _had_ to be causing him a considerable amount of pain... and his belt was open, the zipper undone, genitals exposed as he hovered over the terrified young teen.

Wally's entire vision suddenly went white with a hot, pulsating _rage_.

 _ **"GET YOUR MOTHERFUCKING HANDS OFF OF HIM!"**_

In the time it took them all to figure out what exactly was happening, the speedster had yanked the man off of Robin, brutally shoving him up against the bedroom wall, and kicking him in the groin with as much force as he was capable of. The bastard might have screamed if the Metahuman didn't have a death grip around his windpipe. He slammed the bastard viciously into the wall, over and over again, not letting go until he heard the satisfying noise of something (probably ribs) break from the force.

As soon as he went down, the redhead was jumping on top of him, grabbing him by the front of his shirt and nailing into the psychopath with a series of lightning fast punches.

"You son of a bitch! Do you think it's _fun_ to rape _kids_ , you _SICK. FUCKING. FREAK?!_ " He seethed.

The image of Robin crying and pleading for the man not to do what he was planning would be forever seared in his brain.

Blood was roaring in his ears, his anger so intense that red static sparked off of his skin as he vibrated without even realizing it, his body blurring. Mello's words bounced around in his mind, encouraging him to finish the guy. Killing just _one_ psychopath wouldn't hurt anybody. He wouldn't be missed, and no child would _ever_ feel pain by his hand again.

Even knowing that he'd be thrown off of the team didn't stop him. He could take that. Disappointing Flash and Batman and even Aunt Iris and his friends would be difficult, but he could still take it, he'd been through way worse. In the end, the last person he would have expected prevented him from taking out the pathetic excuse of a human life beneath him.

"Kid Flash! Stop! He's out!" Robin was yelling over the speedster's own infuriated shouts. "Stop it, you're going to kill him! Snap out of it, KF! Kid! _**Wally!**_ "

The sound of his real name, wracked with alarm and worry, instantly got through to him.

Letting go of the motionless but still breathing sadist beneath him, whose face was now little more than a bloody pulp, Wally got to his feet, shaking, and turned around just in time to see the brunette struggling to untie the last knot binding his ankle to the bed post, the boy's fingers were trembling badly and he didn't seem quite capable of doing it at the moment.

As the haze began to lift, Wally moved towards Robin, as slowly as he was capable of, trying not to frighten him. He remembered how jumpy he himself had been after... after his own assault. It had taken a long time to convince himself that a hand on his shoulder or a hug wasn't something bad that he needed to fend off.

Surprisingly, Robin didn't seem all that afraid as the older teen quickly undid the knot and removed the coarse rope from his ankle, gritting his teeth at the sight of the angry, red burns left behind from his struggling. In fact, though he was quite obviously shaken up by the whole thing, the only emotion present in his face was concern.

Concern for _him_.

If it wouldn't have been horribly inappropriate, Kid Flash might have laughed. True, the last time they'd saw each other Wally had been shot and was bleeding out on the lobby floor of that hellish hotel, but _he_ wasn't the one that had nearly been raped just a few seconds ago.

He felt 'nearly' was the correct term, considering what was left of Robin's uniform was still _on_ , thank God, and when he had kicked the door in, his best friend had been begging for the man _not_ to do it, not for him to _stop_ it.

There was a very distinct difference to the redhead, but the fact that his best friend had been _that_ close to having the same happen to him made Wally sick to his stomach. After everything else the boy had been through... it could have destroyed him.

It had nearly destroyed the redhead, after all, and he hadn't watched his entire family fall to their deaths in front of him already.

Losing Leanne was devastating, but he'd still had family after that, Robin had been more or less alone until Bruce adopted him. Now, on top of all the other shit he'd gone through, he had yet another traumatic, life-changing experience to get over.

It wasn't fair.

"We need to call the police." The speedster muttered, mostly to himself, looking around the room. Before he'd heard Robin's cries, he'd been looking around the house, more specifically, the basement. There was some seriously _not right_ things down there.

Plus the bastard on the floor would need an ambulance.

He hoped they forgot the painkillers when they set those fractures.

Despite having lost control a few minutes ago, he couldn't bring himself to regret what he did. The man deserved it all and more for what he'd tried to do to Rob.

"Then we'll get you out of here, okay?" He saw Robin shakily trying to pull the tattered remains of his uniform together to cover himself, and looked away because... well, just _because_. "The League can't be that far behind me." He doubted the younger boy would want their heroes, especially his own mentor, to see him as he was.

"Okay," the brunette muttered hoarsely, wrapping one of the blankets from the bed around his shoulders when it became obvious his Robin costume was a lost cause (hopefully the Batman had spares for him). He was quiet, trying to think of anything but... what had almost happened.

Wally was quick to use his communicator, "Red Tornado? I need you to send emergency services to my current location. Let the others know I found Robin, and he's..." He hesitated, not sure how to phrase the boy's state. Okay would have been unfair and untrue. "He's alive, and I'm taking him out of this place before the others show up. KF out." He didn't wait for a response before flipping off the earpiece, knowing the android would have gotten all that.

Turning to look at his best friend, he began, "Do you, uh, want to wait downstairs for the others?" He really should have asked earlier what the younger teen wanted, but this situation was making it hard to think clearly. "If not, I could bring you to them?"

Robin tilted his head slightly, "No, I don't have my mask or..." His boots, cape, utility belt or gloves. If the League saw him like this they would instantly know what had happened, and while he knew Batman would find out one way or another, he didn't want to be looking the way he currently did when that happened. He tightened the blanket around himself, and let out a breath.

Then he realized what the other teen had said, "Wait, you mean... they aren't with you?"

It hadn't occurred to him earlier, but it was strange for Kid Flash to be here alone, without any members of the League, or their team or at least some sort of backup. He sincerely doubted any of them, especially Batman, would have let him go off by himself, but considering how impulsive he could be...

"How did you find me, Wally?" He asked in an unusually quiet voice, not because he was worried about... _him_ waking up, but because he didn't think he could raise his voice without giving away the slight tremor to it.

KF seemed surprised that he asked that, and rubbed the back of his neck, "Oh, um, well... these three other kids were at the base and one of them is apparently really good with computers so he hacked into the Justice League's mainframe and told me where they were. I ended up finding this guy's," he scowled in the direction of Pyotr, "Girlfriend and brought her to the warehouse where she'd led them to try an' extort money from Bats. Then I got sick of waiting and I, uh, got her to...confess?"

Saying it out loud didn't make it seem any less surreal.

Telling that Russian woman about his own past hadn't been part of the plan. Truthfully, the only idea in his mind had been begging her to give up where his best friend was, even if he looked stupid while doing so. That Batman was there to witness everything he'd said to her was only now sinking in, really. Superman probably knew due to his Kryptonian hearing, and maybe even Martian Manhunter from his telepathy. He only hoped the three of them would keep the information to themselves, and especially not let Flash know.

But he wouldn't have changed anything if he could. Well, that wasn't entirely true. If he did have the ability to change past mistakes, he would have called the Justice League for backup the moment he realized Robin wasn't coming back out of that building, or not have let Red Arrow talk him into allowing him to go in there in the first place. But that he'd spilled some of his worst secrets to a criminal lady? Saving Robin from what had almost happened was more than worth it, even if it meant everyone finding out.

"That's..." Robin seemed to be at a loss for words when he heard that. It was a real surprise, that Kid Flash had somehow managed to get a hardened criminal to give up his location when even Batman couldn't (though he might have resorted to other tactics to get her to talk if he became desperate enough).

He wanted to congradulate the redhead, and do something to show his immense gratitude for saving him. But he wasn't sure how. The brunette was feeling rather... _numb_. Was he going into shock? It sure felt like it, but he didn't know for certain.

"Yeah," Wally agreed simply, "So, we should get going. Um..." he looked uncomfortable for a moment, "I, uh, don't suppose you want a piggyback ride - are you okay with me picking you up?"

Confusion appeared on the younger hero's face, "Why wouldn't I be?"

The speedster was looking at Robin like he was afraid to get anywhere near him, but why? Did he think he was going to go all ninja martial artist on him? True, the acrobat really didn't feel in control of anything at the moment, and he knew for a fact that this experience was most likely going to have negative effects on him in the future once it all fully sunk in, but... he couldn't see himself ever being scared of _Wally_. Not of his goofy, ridiculously smart, stubborn and hyperactive best friend of over two years.

No, even after...what Pyotr nearly did, Robin couldn't believe that any amount of PTSD or whatever would cause him to feel anything but safe (if not occasionally irritated) by the redhead's presence.

Wally was really confused, but he shrugged it off for now. Maybe the psychological trauma of the last four days hadn't taken its toll on the raven-haired boy, yet. After his own experience he'd done research, not just to understand why what had happened to him _happened_ , but to help him get over it as well. It had...worked, for the most part. Part of what he learned was that it sometimes didn't really hit you until later, maybe even years later, if you managed to block it out.

He'd never been that lucky.

But maybe Robin would have an easier time of dealing with it. He had been through a lot of awful things in his life already. Maybe all of Batman's super special and secret training would help him.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he joined the teen over by the bed, lending his shoulder for support when Robin seemed to teeter slightly upon standing, his balance off. Whether because he hadn't been on his feet in a while or because of, well, _everything else_ , he didn't know. But when it became clear that touching him wasn't going to cause the brunette to kick him in the face or something, he carefully scooped him up, bridal style.

Normally something like that would have embarrassed the Boy Wonder, being carried like a damsel in distress, but he merely rested his head against the speedster's chest, his gaze was glassy and unfocused. Hell, normally he would be opposed to Wally running him anywhere, considering the motion sickness he'd experienced after the first time.

Anyone else might have suspected a concussion (and for all the redhead knew he could have had one of those as well), but the expression on Robin's face was the first symptom of Wally's own hauntingly similar experience. He was zoning out, probably trying not to think about it at all.

 _Oh, Rob..._ The speedster's heart ached slightly for the younger boy.

"Take me home, Wally." The brunette spoke, his voice just above a whisper. "Please."

Frowning, he peered down at the unmasked hero, "Wait, home?"

To Wally, 'home' meant one of three places: Keystone City, which was his hometown and the place his parents lived (okay, so he was actually born in Nebraska, but he didn't _live_ there), and Central City where Uncle Barry and Aunt Iris were, but more often these days it referred to Mount Justice, where he truly felt safe and happy, and welcomed. He got the feeling that last one was not what his friend meant, though. "Don't you want Canary and Tornado to take a look at your injuries?"

Robin was shaking his head before the question fully left the redhead's mouth.

He had no new (physical) wounds, just a lot of bruises. He wanted to see the others, really, he did, especially Roy and the three strangers who had pretty much risked their lives to try to help him, too. But he couldn't face them now, not like this.

"No. I just want to go home. Take me back to Gotham City."

* * *

 **Well, this was an emotionally gruelling chapter to write. Rest assured that even though the whole kidnapping part of this story is done, it's not all just going to be forgotten about. Wally still wants to have that conversation with Dick about his own past, and they'll have their own issues and demons to face (including Robin's semi-denial/attempted diassociation from what happened and Wally's low self esteem due to his past/troubled family life, but we'll get to see a bit more fluffy (hurt/comfort & friendship)) now that BirdFlash is together once more! Plus, you'll get more Batman, cowl off, and an appearance from Alfred, so you have that to look forward to!**

 **Also, a quick thank you and shout out to everyone who's been following this story lately. I notice the more chapters I post, the more people get interested. I guess no one wants to get invested in a story they think will go unfinished (and to anyone wondering, I do fully intend to finish Arrow's Flashpoint, I'm just not sure when - hopefully around the time I get a new computer), so I appreciate the faith you're all showing by keeping an eye on AMFAS.**

 **Stay awesome, and let be sure to let me know what you think so far!**


	16. Safe, Sound, Secure

**All My Friends Are Superheroes**

 **Summary** : Being a teenaged hero is no walk in the park; juggling school, homework, superpowers, friends and family can be tough, especially when you and your secret boyfriend are tiptoeing around teammates, parents and mentors. However, sometimes in life you have to just stop worrying, and let the stones fall where they may. It might not be that bad, after all. Season 1. AU/OOC. Birdflash.

 **Point Of View** : Third person's POV, set in past tense/story format, with dreams/thoughts italicized. The focus will mainly be on Robin and Kid Flash, of course, but I fully plan to further explore their interactions with the team, and also with their JLA mentors. Story starts after the team has been established, right after the end of their first official mission together.

* * *

 _"Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person; having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but to pour them all out, just as they are, chaff and grain together, knowing that a faithful hand with take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and then, with a breath of kindness, blow the rest away." - Dinah Maria Mulock Craik_

* * *

It didn't take Wally as long as it should have to reach Gotham City.

Even using a Zeta Tube, it normally would have taken him at least an hour to get to New Jersey from point A to point B, but maybe his concern for Robin pushed him to go faster or something? It didn't make sense, since he was actually pretty low on energy from all the running around he'd done that day, but it wasn't his biggest concern at the moment.

Looking down at the boy in his arms, the speedster nearly stumbled in shock.

Robin was fast asleep, his head curled against Wally's chest, the redhead had bundled him up to the best of his ability with the blanket he was wrapped in, hoping to protect him from not only the breezy Autumn air, but also the added chill of going at such high speeds.

Something wasn't right, despite the fact that he seemed mostly okay, aside from his injuries. It was enough to give him pause, and the Metahuman carefully balanced the younger teen in one arm, biting the fingertips of his glove to pull it off, and pressed the back of his hand to Robin's forehead.

Wally cursed; he was burning up again.

Good thing they were almost there.

Wally had never been to Robin's home. He hadn't gotten around to talking to the ninja about him calling Bruce Wayne with the emergency number, considering a week ago when it happened the brunette was bedridden and then all the crap at Black Orchid had gone down, so unless Bats had told him there was a good chance he didn't know his mentor knew.

Batman was all secretive and stuff, after all.

To be perfectly honest, he wasn't surprised that it was just as beautiful and strange-looking as the rest of Gotham; it had an air of creepy elegance, what with its abundance of stone and glass and steel, Gothic architecture, and seemingly endless supply of gargoyles. The city, even in the suburbs, had always given him the heebie-jeebies, not that he'd _ever_ tell either Batman or Robin that. Staring passed the tall gates at the house-er, _enormous freaking castle-sized estate_ , he suddenly understood why the wealth of the Wayne family intimidated so many people.

But... how was he supposed to get inside?

Climbing the fence was out of the question with his sick best friend sleeping in his arms, and even if he was brave enough to try it, he didn't want to risk the chance that it was electrified. Considering this was the _Batman's_ house, he probably had all sorts of elaborate security measures in place, and setting off a bunch of traps? _Not_ something he wasn in the mood for.

It took a few seconds of standing there stupidly before he finally noticed the buzzer on the gate.

Oh, _duh_.

He flicked the switch, Robin had at least told him that aside from Bruce, him, and a couple members of the League, the only other people that knew about their identities was their butler Alfred, and a doctor/close family friend who apparently ran a clinic somewhere in the city.

 _"Wayne Residence."_

Now, how to respond? Looking down at Robin, covered up the way he was and injured, plus missing several key components of his uniform, you couldn't really tell he was the famous Boy Wonder, which was, in this instance, a good thing. Not that he thought he'd slowed down long enough for anyone to see them.

"Uh, hi?" Wally said, feeling like an idiot, "This is...Kid Flash. I have D-" he paused, he wasn't technically supposed to _know_ who Dick was, at least not personally. Everyone thought he was just some billionaire's adopted kid, after all. Better safe than sorry. He didn't know if anyone could be listening nearby. "-Bruce Wayne's ward, Richard, here with me." Man, it was odd enough calling Robin by his civillian nickname, but referring to him by his full first name was just plain _weird_. "I, er, kinda rescued him? He can't really walk at the moment, so if you could just-"

The gates were opening with a creak before he'd finished talking, but, then again, he did have a tendency to ramble.

He was heading up the path towards the manor when the front doors opened, and a well-dressed older gentleman came rushing down the stairs to meet him, a worried expression on his face, he skidded to a halt the moment he caught a glimpse of the boy's pale, bruised face. "Master Dick!"

"Poor kid's got Pneumonia, but other than that I think his injuries have all been taken care of, by an...ally." Kid Flash handed the brunette over instantly, if not with some reluctance, because he was a hero first and Robin's best friend second, and now he was with someone that could properly look after him. He knew from the thick British accent that this was the trusted Wayne family butler.

Figuring he should probably go back to Mt. Justice and wait for Batman, or even head home for the night, despite wanting to make sure Robin was okay, but as soon as he took a few steps to begin his running start, a wave of dizziness washed over him.

Ugh, he recognized _that_ feeling.

"Young man, are you alright?" He thought he heard the guy, Alfred, address him.

The redhead wanted to assure him that he was just fine, if not a little low on energy, but there was a ringing in his ears, and when he turned to face him again, everything blurred before his legs gave out underneath him.

* * *

 _Stupid metabolism._

If there was ever anything to dislike about the otherwise awesome power of super speed, it would be the fact that it left him with acute Hypoglycemia.

Wally blinked his eyes open, wincing slightly as he sat up, swiveling his head to look around. Where was he? He was on an impossibly soft sofa. The last thing he remembered was bringing Robin home... right, he'd forgotten to eat before he left Mt. Justice, and passed out because of that.

He stood, and felt a tug in his arm. Glancing down, he frowned in confusion, there was an IV stuck in him.

"Batman has kept a supply of sugar solution on hand ever since an incident several years back when the Flash lost consciousness in a similar situation." A voice informed him, and he spun around to see Alfred standing in the doorway, looking a lot more calm and collected than he had earlier.

Unsure what to say, he rubbed the back of his neck and laughed, though it was more out of awkwardness than anything, "Yeah, he told me about that. I usually have a snack or two on hand, but I was kind of in a hurry..." Not to mention he hadn't been thinking straight. "Will Robin be okay?"

"He will be, in time." The look on Alfred's face told him he was hesitant to say so, "Master Dick will require plenty of bed rest, and fluids. I've already spoken to Dr. Thompkins on what medication is recommended - he has had allergic reactions to certain vaccinations and antibiotics in the past, you see - and she is on her way as we speak."

Good, that was good. Not that Rob was sick, but that he was in the hands of people who could properly look after him.

"Can I see him?"

* * *

The father in Batman was screaming for vengeance by the time he arrived at the house in Malibu where Robin had been kept captive. He'd been contacted by Red Tornado as he and the League were on the way, telling him that Kid Flash had already taken his partner away, and he'd requested that he send police and an ambulance there.

While part of him wished the speedster would have waited so he could check on Robin himself, he logically knew that getting him far, _far_ away from that place was for the best.

Getting him to the Hall of Justice or to the Mountain would have ensured he recieved medical attention from the Leaguers who had stayed behind. The information he'd been given wasn't extensive, though. According to the Android, Robin was "alive", but that was all that had been said about his condition.

That didn't bode well with the Dark Knight at all.

By the time he had arrived, local law enforcement was already there, and he brushed passed Superman - who had stopped to explain the League's reasons for showing up to the cops - and headed for the house, stepping aside when he saw EMTs rolling a gurney down the walkway.

Flash appeared by his side all of a sudden, an unusually sober look on his face that only increased his concern, not that it showed. The blonde man had been one of the first to arrive there, so he would definitely know what had happened.

"What's going on here? Did you find anything?"

He let out a breath, "Blood, a lot of it."

Seeing the very subtle change in Batman's expression, he quickly added, "Not Robin's! I mean... the guy's." He inclined his head towards the gurney, scowling. Despite his often cheery demeanor, he despised crimes against children as much as any of them, especially when said child was his nephew's best friend. "It was brutal, Bats. I know KF must have done it, but..." Barry shook his head, it was still hard to believe. "I'll be surprised if the medics manage to keep him alive long enough to get to the hospital. He must have been seriously ticked off to do that, I've always told him to watch his speed when fighting..."

Batman felt conflicted when he heard that. On one hand, he was glad that Kid Flash had gotten his son out of a bad situation and taught the bastard who dared to put their filthy hands on him a lesson, but on the other hand it meant that Wally might have had his own temperament problems, if even his uncle had felt compelled to warn him to be careful.

Then again, a combination of adrenaline, anger, and not being used to fighting ordinary human criminals might have been a factor. While the two speedsters regularly went up against men like Captain Cold who didn't have powers but still used other methods to "even" a fight with the heroes, so to speak, he probably didn't have a lot of experience taking out people who had zero advantage against Metahumans.

If it proved to be a problem, he would have to have a talk with the teenager about it.

At the moment though, the only thing Batman regretted was that _he_ wasn't the one to confront the psychopath that had taken his partner.

* * *

 _No, no, no... please, stop it._

Dick thrashed violently, but it was no use.

The hands, they were _everywhere_ , invading and exploring, and they wouldn't _stop_. He couldn't _move_ , it felt like he was being weighed down by something. By _someone_. He tried to scream, but his mouth wouldn't open. There was also _pain_ \- in his shoulder, his chest, his face, his wrist, even his throat. It hurt so much. _Why_ did it hurt?

 _L-Leave me alone! Don't touch me!_

Someone was talking to him now, though he couldn't make out the words. Then he felt the hands move to grip his arms instead, and it sent a spike of terror through his veins.

 _GET OFF OF ME!_

The hands let go of him immediately, to his immense relief. "Dick, it's me! Wake up!"

"No!" His eyes snapped open and he was jerking into a sitting position, looking around frantically, his heart was hammering so fast that it was difficult to breathe. It only took a few seconds to realize that he was at home, in his bed.

He met wide green eyes, staring at him with unmasked concern.

It was Kid Flash - no, it was Wally.

The redhead was _here_ , with him, and he was at _home_. Which...which meant that he was safe now. He'd just been having a nightmare, then, which was concerning since he didn't even remember falling asleep, but it hardly mattered because he was safe.

KF had gotten him away from...that _place_.

"Wally?" His voice sounded foreign to him. It was choked and raw, like he'd been strangled and - right, he had. _That_ was why he was in pain, and because of his other injuries. Not because anything else was happening.

Because it was only a dream: Not real.

At least... not anymore

"Yeah, Rob. It's me." The speedster gave him a smile, but it was quite obviously false. His eyes had dark shadows underneath them, and he looked a little worse for wear.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to, uh, scare you. You were having a nightmare though, seemed pretty freaked out... and I didn't want you to wake up the others."

Dick frowned in confusion, "Others?"

"Alfred," Wally told him, matter-of-factly. "And...Bruce."

Bright blue eyes went wide at that, as he suddenly remembered what happened minutes before falling asleep: Wally saving him, from a fate far worse than death, and him begging his friend to just take him home. He had been so tired, and afraid, even though he had no reason to be anymore, and the thought of having to face anyone in his state almost made him want to cry, and if he was going to have a break down it had to be in the comfort of his own house.

As awful as he'd been feeling, though, it hadn't occurred to him that his request meant Batman would learn that he'd told his identity to someone without getting permission.

He fell back against his pillows, and groaned, "He's going to kill me."

"I don't think so," His best friend told him, smiling a tiny bit, "After all, if he was that pissed he wouldn't have let me come back here the last three days."

The young teen rubbed his eyes, "Yeah, I guess - wait, _what?!_ "

Had he heard him right? Three days? That wasn't possible!

Wally's slight grin faded at that, "Dude, it's...it's Tuesday night, well, Wednesday morning, _technically_. They said you'd probably come around soon, and I wanted to be here when that happened, make sure you were, you know, okay."

The brunette was staring at him in disbelief, "I was out for nearly _four_ _days?_ "

He nodded slightly, his expression so serious that it threw him, Wally was _never_ serious. "You were _really_ sick, Rob. By the time I got you to Alfred your temperature was nearly 106 °F, we were terrified you'd have brain damage or something. Bat-uh, _Bruce_ ," he made a weird face, "Called his doctor friend over to keep an eye on you."

"Leslie?" He perked up slightly at the mention of his almost surrogate grandmother, "She was here?"

Another nod confirmed that was who he meant, "Checked on your other injuries, too, but apparently Mello did a decent job. All she had to do was fix the stitches in your shoulder that you tore."

That made sense, he had probably pulled them accidentally during the...when he was trying to get away.

"Hey, Wally?" The other boy tilted his head at him, and he took a deep breath, "What happened after you got me? I mean to-"

"Awaiting sentencing." He answered instantly, "At least for Anastasia Ivanova. She made some kind of deal for her to give up vital information on the other human traffickers and drugs and weapons dealers she was in contact with. It even made the news." Said deal included an anonymous donation to the adoptive family of Anya's son so the child could get a life saving operation, but the speedster figured Bruce could tell him that himself.

Seeing the look on his face, the redhead frowned, hesitating, "You meant...the other guy, right?"

Dick was immensely thankful that his friend didn't say his name.

"He's in the hospital's prison wing, in a coma."

Shock, that was the only thing the younger boy could register feeling, "But how-" the words died in his throat when Wally's face darkened and he looked away, silence overcoming the room, before the speedster stood abruptly, pacing, before he whirled around suddenly to face the other teen. There was anger sparking in his eyes, but it obviously wasn't directed towards him.

"I know I shouldn't have done it, but I don't regret it!"

He jumped, a little taken aback by the outburst. Of course, he remembered the fury KF had displayed when he had found him in that place, it was a hard thing to forget.

Wally had hit him a _lot_ , likely breaking several bones in the process, not to mention slamming him into the wall mercilessly even before that. He wasn't sure if the coma was a medicated one or not, and he didn't ask.

Dick wasn't really sure he wanted to know.

Either way, it wasn't all that surprising.

"Wally..." He didn't know what to say, his best friend had done that, for him. Broke the "necessary amount of force only," rule. Almost killed someone. Swallowing, he tried to say something else, "I-thank you, for saving me. But you didn't have to-"

"Yes I did." The tone he used was firm, and completely honest. "He deserved it, Rob, and so much worse, after what he did to you, and what he _tried_ to do. I know I should regret it, but I don't, not at all. He's a monster. Of all the _sick_..." he shook his head, and sat down on the edge of Dick's bed, running his fingers through his hair repeatedly, as if to calm himself.

The brunette noticed that he seemed to keep his distance.

Was he worried about scaring him again?

Hesitating, Dick reached out and put a hand on the speedster's arm, but when the redhead turned to look at him, he found himself at a loss for words again. The expression on his face was haunted, in a way he'd only seen a handful of times outside the bathroom mirror.

He whispered something, and the boy strained to hear him, "I was almost too late."

Dick's stomach clenched at the reminder, and he felt queasy for a few seconds, but fought it down. His own trauma could wait, because his best friend was obviously in pain for some reason that he didn't understand. "But you weren't."

"But I _could_ have been."

The younger boy pushed his blankets aside, scooting over to sit next to his visitor, leaning his head against his shoulder briefly, surprised when the redhead flinched slightly. "Hey, _I'm_ supposed to be the more brooding of the sidekicks, while you remind me not to focus on the past. Son of Batman, remember?" When that didn't even get a smile, the brunette became more worried. "What's really going on with you, Wally?"

Wally wouldn't meet his eyes, "I don't know what you mean."

"Yes, you do." Dick insisted, gently. This situation was weird and he was a little afraid, something was very wrong and his best friend wouldn't tell him. "You've been acting strange since you saved me... you won't look me in the eyes, and you act like I'm carrying a deadly disease."

He didn't mean to sound upset, but it all seemed so _wrong_.

Less than two weeks ago they were kissing and looking at the stars together, and now Wally seemed freaked out by the thought of touching him.

Originally he assumed it was because the Metahuman thought _he_ was too badly shaken for physical contact, but now he was starting to suspect that it was, mostly, unrelated to that, "You can trust me, you know."

"Of course I know!" Wally snapped, then winced when Dick gave him a confused, hurt look. "Alright, everything's _not_ okay..."

The redhead had promised himself he would tell Robin all of his secrets once he was safe, but he didn't think that the first one would end up being of the two most painful. He gave a quiet sigh, carding his fingers through his tangled ginger locks once more. "There's no easy way to talk about it, but I told myself that I would tell you once you were safe, so..."

God, it was hard to admit.

"Look, when I was eleven-" He stopped, and swallowed down the lump in his throat, "There was...I was... What happened to you... a-also...happened to me... except no one was there to rescue me." It came out in a whisper.

Even when Dick didn't respond, he kept his eyes in his lap, fiddling with his hands, so he wouldn't have to look at his friend. "I-It was my teacher, in the fifth grade. He got me alone at lunchtime and... that's how it happened."

Dick was frozen in place.

He... Wally was...?

The same thing, only _worse_.

 _Oh my God._

The young brunette had a hand over his mouth, literally at a loss for words, and without even realizing that it was happening, tears spilled over and started running down his face. Even after what nearly happened, he couldn't actually begin to imagine it... Honestly, before Artemis, he'd kind of resented being the only non-superpowered member of their team. It was pretty easy to forget that up until two or so years ago Wally had been a totally average kid.

But even without powers, at age eleven Dick still knew how to defend himself as Robin.

Wally _hadn't_ , though, and to think that someone who he had trusted to look out for him had taken advantage of his cheery, kindhearted best friend and done _that_ to him...well, it made him feel hot with anger and sick with revulsion at the same time. It was easy to see with Wally's hesitance to tell him that this was a secret he'd been carrying solo for a long time.

Dick couldn't imagine shouldering that kind of pain, that _burden_ , all alone, for so long. It made him wonder how the speedster could be so jovial, so _carefree_. He always thought KF was kind of reckless with his own identity, but he hadn't realized the older boy had been wearing his own mask far longer than Robin had.

"I-I'm so sorry, Wally." His voice was shaking.

It might have been his imagination, but he thought he saw the redhead wipe his eyes on his sleeve, before looking at his best friend with a smile. It didn't quite reach his eyes, but he was obviously trying. "Don't be, Rob. It...was a long time ago. I'm not gonna lie and say I'm _over it_ or anything, but... I have accepted it. I just wanted you to know my biggest secret, since you told me yours."

Blinking away more tears, the brunette tried to think of something else to say, but he _couldn't_.

There was simply no words.

Instead, the younger boy reached out and took Wally's face in his hands.

"Dick, wha-"

He cut the speedster off with a kiss, trying to convey everything he couldn't with speech through it. His gratitude, his sympathy, his...love. If he hadn't known before everything that had happened, the boy certainly did now.

Richard Grayson was completely, totally, head-over-heels _in love_ with Wallace West. He adored everything about him, from his dorky science talk and his hyperactive tendencies, to the depths of him that he seemed to hide from everyone else beneath that goofy, flirtatious exterior. Everything they'd been through together, each memory in nearly three years of friendship and especially of over the last few months, his feelings had only been growing, and they were impossible to deny.

That realization both thrilled and terrified him.

It took the redhead a few long seconds to respond, he seemed thoroughly shocked, but after a while, Dick could feel Wally's lips moving back against his own, a hand cupping the back of his skull, fingers gently winding through his hair, mindful of his stitches.

Dick decided it didn't matter how scared he was, both because of everything that had happened and all that he was feeling.

Because with Wally there beside him, he knew he'd be okay.

* * *

 **I'm not entirely satisfied with how this chapter turned out, and I definitely plan to continue writing about the after effect of what the boys went through in the next few chapters, but I wanted to update it sooner rather than later, so I can start the next one.**

 **Thoughts thus far?**


	17. Conflicted Desires

**All My Friends Are Superheroes**

 **Summary** : Being a teenaged hero is no walk in the park; juggling school, homework, superpowers, friends and family can be tough, especially when you and your secret boyfriend are tiptoeing around teammates, parents and mentors. However, sometimes in life you have to just stop worrying, and let the stones fall where they may. It might not be that bad, after all. Season 1. AU/OOC. Birdflash.

 **Point Of View** : Third person's POV, set in past tense/story format, with dreams/thoughts italicized. The focus will mainly be on Robin and Kid Flash, of course, but I fully plan to further explore their interactions with the team, and also with their JLA mentors. Story starts after the team has been established, right after the end of their first official mission together.

* * *

 _"One day you fall for this boy. And he touches you with his fingers. And he burns holes in your skin with his mouth. And it hurts when you look at him. And it hurts when you don't. And it feels like someone's cut you open with a jagged piece of glass." - Maureen Medved_

* * *

"You want to go to my house?"

Robin nodded his confirmation, "Yes."

The redhead stared at him, a little (a _lot_ ) confused. "Uhhh... _Okay_. But why?"

It was Friday, and they were supposed to be hanging out at the brunette's this weekend. Things around the Mountain had been kind of depressing ever since Red Tornado had _betrayed_ them and revealed himself to be the mole. The whole team was kind of ticked that the League wouldn't let them help search, especially since Captain Marvel had been assigned as their new nanny.

Wally was really looking forward to just hanging out with the Boy Wonder this weekend. Bruce, surprisingly, had no objections to this. Robin had assured him that he'd more than proven himself trustworthy to his guardian in the past couple of weeks. First by calling the man when Robin got sick, attempting to rescue him after getting captured, and then actually succeeding the third time he tried.

Apparently taking a bullet trying to save his son during the second attempt meant that Bats now, at least, accepted that Robin's friendship with the speedster wasn't going away any time soon, and he no longer had doubts about the boy's decision to reveal their identities to Wally.

Either that or he appreciated the utter happiness his bedridden ward displayed whenever Wally popped in to check on him after school.

Honestly, Robin loved Alfred like a grandfather, but having no one his own age to talk to while he was confined to his room with Pneumonia _sucked_. Now that he had been cleared for missions and going back to school once his bruises had healed, the last thing he wanted was to spend _more_ time at the manor.

But, he'd never been to Wally's house before.

"After all the time you've spent at my place, it seems only fair." The acrobat teased lightly, "Besides, Bruce is bringing one of his "dates" to dinner and having to meet _another_ one of them is very far down on my list of priorities." He didn't bother to lower his voice to a whisper, Superboy was out on a not-so-secret date with Miss Martian.

"You worried about overhearing them 'doing it'?" Wally asked, openly laughing at the disgusted look that appeared on his friend's face.

Robin shook his head, "Dude, gross. _No_. But your parents are leaving for that retreat thing today, right? Which means you'll have the place all to yourself..." He seemed excited by the prospect.

It was for that reason that he missed the slight grimace that appeared on the speedster's face.

Wally had yet to tell his best friend about the issues his highly dysfunctional family dealt with on a regular basis.

Normally, he would be staying with Uncle Barry and Aunt Iris, but now that he was finally deemed old enough, he was allowed to be at home alone while his parents went to their marriage-counselling/addiction recovery program in Ohio. Basically, it was four days of couples dealing with their spousal problems in their relationships while also focusing on whatever vice they'd become attached to during the grieving process.

He might have held out hope that it would actually help this time around if it wasn't, like, the eleventh time they'd tried to deal with their shit in the last eight, nearly _nine_ , years.

They wouldn't be the only ones there who had lost a child and coped with it the wrong way. For his father, alcohol and gambling the nights away at some bar with friends was what he'd used to self-medicate with. His mother, on the other hand, had become a neurotic mess. For the first two years after the accident, she had suffocated Wally with her helicopter parenting. He wasn't allowed to be home alone or even cross the street without holding her hand. After a while the anger and guilt building up inside him came to a boiling point, and he'd screamed at her to get the hell over it and stop treating him like he was going to die, too. The way she'd broke down in tears filled him with shame, and the ten-year-old had hugged her tight and apologized.

He promised to be a good son to her from then on, and in return she had allowed him more freedom (which turned out to be a big mistake). She tried to be the "fun" parent to Wally after that. Every couple of months from the time he was ten until just after he turned fourteen, she would drag him off to some mother-son _bonding_ class.

While he always knew she was subconsciously trying to make up for the things she'd never get to do with his sister, they made her happy, and for just a little while the lines from years of worry and pain would disappear from her face, so he sucked it up for the sake of her health.

Usually it only lasted a few days as she grew bored quickly, but the list of things they'd tried was _massive_ : baking, piano, guitar, singing, photography, jewellery making, fashion design & sewing, candle making, wood shop, pottery, horseback riding, glassblowing, interior decorating... Most of them were kind of fun and not so bad, but some had been all around horrible or just downright _weird_ for both adult and child - such as puppet making, dance classes, yoga, underwater basket weaving (yes, that was _actually_ a thing), etc.

Wally had totally failed at archery when he tried it three years ago, especially after nearly impaling the instructor with an arrow. Skydiving was a nightmare, and poetry was so _boring_. His favourites had been astronomy, science camp, and foreign languages. He'd been the only one there whose fluency in Latin had gone beyond the middle school requirement, he'd never forget the way his mom had beamed with pride when the teacher had told her that her son was exceptional.

He'd initially been wary about how his mother would react to him becoming Kid Flash.

Despite trying to let him grow up on his own, he knew she worried, so when she didn't object at all, he suspected that she knew why he wanted to become a hero. The support from her meant a lot, especially when his father was so deep into his alcoholism that nothing mattered in his mind anymore.

It was a really complicated situation, could you really blame him for not wanting to talk about it?

But he _would_ eventually tell Robin the truth, about everything.

Probably.

In the meantime, he really didn't have a problem with moving the sleepover to his own house, even if the Wayne estate was way cooler. He'd just have to head home quickly and hide all the embarrassing and/or strange things he could before the brunette showed up.

Because, yeah, Robin might have been his best friend, but he was also something _more_ , and like hell was he leaving all of his baby pictures out in the open for the younger boy to see.

All of these thoughts went through his mind in under five seconds, and Wally made his decision, smiling at the brunette, "Yup! They'll be away all weekend, and back sometime early Tuesday morning. I don't mind if we hang at my place. We can order pizza for dinner? Watch movies?"

The bright grin on Robin's face made his heartbeat quicken, the kid was obviously eager to get away from home for awhile, "Sounds great! I'll be there around six, is that okay?"

"Sure, Rob, that sounds fine."

* * *

Robin was both excited and nervous about going to Wally's that night.

Originally, they'd been planning on hanging out at his place. He'd cleared it with Bruce and let Alfred know, and and he'd definitely been looking forward to it. Ever since their conversation after he woke up in his bed, he felt like they were a lot closer. That morning had been filled with tears, laughter, and a ton of touchy-feely moments.

It was a while before he could bring himself to tell Bruce what _exactly_ happened when he was taken by Anya, and then left alone with Pyotr. He was sure the man, being the detective that he was, had put most of the pieces together. Still, the look on Bruce's face was one of undisguised relief when the young boy informed him that, while it _had_ been bad, Kid Flash made it just in time to save him from a fate far worse.

Their talk had been awkward and embarrassing as hell, but Dick knew why it was necessary. Not only did Bruce need to know everything for medical reasons (thankfully it _hadn't_ gone that far), but for his own peace of mind.

While it was a bit of a relief to tell his guardian, the teenager had done his best to keep his composure. He wasn't in denial, he'd accepted what had happened and he was aware that it wasn't his fault, but he was still monitoring himself closely in case the incident caused his judgement to be clouded and put the team or Batman in danger because he wasn't thinking straight.

It wasn't until Bruce had cut him off mid-sentence, put a hand on his adoptive son's shoulder, and asked him directly if he was actually _okay_ , that he'd finally broken down.

No, he wasn't okay, not at all.

What happened was so horrible. The paralyzingly fear of getting beaten, kidnapped and _strangled_ was bad enough, but the worst was the sickening, crawling sensation on his body. He felt so... _violated._ It was horrible. Knowing if it weren't for Wally coming to his rescue that the man could have done so much worse and that he wouldn't have been able to do a thing to stop him left Dick helpless and childlike in a way he hadn't felt since he watched his family fall to their deaths.

For the first time in more than two years, Dick had cried himself to sleep in Bruce's strong arms, allowing the man to stay vigilant and chase the demons of his nightmares away for him.

As much as he appreciated Wally's company and support (and he did, more than he could possibly express), it had taken until he'd recovered enough to tell the whole story out loud for the boy to realize how much he _needed_ a father, not just a hero. He'd also agreed to start talking with Black Canary about it, too.

Ever since then, he'd been sleeping better, regaining his appetite, and feeling a little safer in his own skin.

About two weeks ago, he'd been watching TV late one evening. It was boring. Kaldur, Conner and M'gann were doing investigating into Belle Reve Penitentiary, including undercover work. Artemis, and Sushmita (Canary's new protégé) were doing stuff with their mentors in Star City, and Wally was taking care of Mirror Master along with his uncle. Roy was recovering well, though he was still being ridiculously stubborn.

As for the three boys that were staying at the Black Orchid, Batman was "dealing" with them. He'd pressed for information, and the Dark Knight revealed to him that all three of them had, indeed, run away from an orphanage in Winchester, meant for gifted children. They definitely qualified. Apparently the Batman was acquainted with the man who ran it, there had been a big scandal a few years back that the orphanage was training its kids to fight crime under the instruction of the great detective known simply as L. They'd almost been shut down after one of the students committed suicide and another snapped and became a crazy serial killer.

It surprised him initially that Bruce was supportive of inexperienced orphans teaching themselves to be hackers, private investigators, and vigilantes. But then he pointed out that what they were doing wasn't so different from what the Batman had done for Robin; given him an outlet, a way to take the grief of his family's murder and channel it into something positive, using his talent to fight crime. He was still handling the three, who were refusing to return to England.

Robin had a strong feeling they were going to end up joining the team.

Anyway, while all that was going on, he was stuck channel-surfing. Thousands of stations and there was somehow _nothing_ good on. Dick had been just about ready to give up and turn in early, when something caught his eye. It was one of those trashy pseudo-psychology shows that dispensed bad advice - he couldn't remember the title, but he _did_ remember the hostess, a woman named Dr. Jayme Anderson, a sexologist. She'd been taking questions from people via Twitter.

One that popped up got his attention.

 _"#DocJayme: So, my first BF and I have been together for a few weeks now, and I'm scared we'll be getting intimate soon... What should I do?"_

The bleach-blonde woman had turned to look right at the camera and smiled, "Well? MaxiRose2010, first of all thank you for the question! I can see from your profile that you're a sophomore in high school. I know in tenth grade there's a _lot_ of pressure in your life - homework, parents, chores, learning to drive, getting a job - and _boys!_ " He had jumped at her sudden, loud, enthusiasm. "Your guy is pressuring you to put out, you overhear your more experienced girlfriends in the locker room talking about how their beaus are in the sack, and you want to know what all the fuss is about. I don't blame you. You want my advice?"

Her live audience chorused out a positive response, chanting her name, "JAY-ME! JAY-ME! JAY-ME!"

Jayme grinned, "Just get it _over_ with."

She paused, listening to the shocked reactions of her guests, before continuing, "Hear me out! You're young, in love, and you want to take the next step with your significant other, but you're afraid of facing the unknown?"

Without even realizing it, Dick found himself sitting forward on the couch, paying more attention. " _Do it_. The sooner you get that terrifying first time out of the way - the pressure is off! No more being afraid that every little touch will lead to something you're not prepared to handle, no more not understanding what the big deal is. Once you've done it, it stops being this scary new thing. Sex is a totally natural, fun thing and there's nothing wrong with wanting to take the first step to get it out of your way. When you do, there's nothing left holding you back!"

Silence, and then the audience burst into cheers.

After turning off the television and heading upstairs to get ready for bed, the teenager began to consider her words.

While, at first, he'd been tempted to just brush it off as a bunch of crap (she didn't exactly have the best professional reputation), the more he thought about it, the more he started to wonder if there wasn't some truth to it all.

Sex was not something he and Wally had discussed. After what had happened during their stargazing on the ledge of Mt. Justice a few weeks into their decision to just go with it, Dick had figured it would happen sooner or later. They'd not done much more than kissing since then, but he _wanted_ to.

There was never any doubt in his mind that it would happen, it had just been a matter of _when_.

Dick's feelings for Wally were very...intense, and he knew the redhead felt the same way because before the incident at the hotel, whenever they made out he could feel his friend's excitement - both figuratively and literally. The way his hands eagerly explored the younger boy's body, and how dark his eyes would be after they (reluctantly) broke apart were a testament to their mutual attraction for one another.

Looking into it, the brunette was surprised to learn that... _experimenting_ between friends, sexually, was actually fairly common, even for someone as young as he was.

When he heard Wally boasting to the others about his parents going on some sort of getaway, and that they'd be gone all weekend, plans started to form in his mind. He wanted to do it, they would have a whole house to themselves, what was stopping them? It wasn't as though all of their friends were doing it and they were being pressured to have sex as well in order to fit in. That wasn't even a concern. If there was anything he worried about, it was that Wally would be sixteen in less than three months, while he wouldn't turn fourteen for another two months _after_ that!

The fear wasn't that the speedster would suddenly get freaked out being around someone younger - it was that they would get in trouble. The age of consent in the state of Kansas (where Wally lived) was 16. Since he and the redhead were both under that age it wasn't such a big deal, but once his birthday came around? Well, having sex with anyone under 14 was a level one felony. The laws were similar in Rhode Island, though at least there Wally couldn't get in trouble unless he was over 18, and by that time Dick would be 16 himself (but he was NOT having sex at the Mountain!), and while for them specifically it was legal in New Jersey, the risk of getting caught by his guardian or butler was simply too high and he wasn't risking it.

For Dick, going to the other boy's just seemed like the most logical choice. He already had everything he thought they might need (which had definitely not been easy to get in secret - thank God for online shopping).

By the time he'd arrived at Wally's house in Keystone City, at six o'clock sharp, his stomach was still in knots from nervousness.

The place was a small, but stylish two-story modern Craftsman house, with a rustic cottage-like feel to it, a stone walkway leading through the well maintained garden with a tiny granite bench. It was painted deep blue with a white trim, it even had a steep, pitched roof with a chimney, a columned front porch, and several sash windows.

It seemed like the perfect size for a family of three or four - there was even a thick tree on the left side of the front yard with an old rope and tire swing hanging from it.

The young teenager couldn't help but smile widely at the image his brain conjured up of a little Wally playing on it during the summertime. Even without the super speed, he was probably a very energetic child.

He answered the door after the first knock (of course), and Dick felt his heart grow warm when he saw the redhead, dressed in a pair of Flash pajama pants and a Star Wars graphic tee... It was so _Wally_. His hair was unruly, clothes slightly rumpled like he'd just rolled out of bed, which he most likely had. His best friend was gorgeous without even _trying_.

Dick had tried (really hard, in fact). He'd actually bothered with putting effort into his appearance this evening, which he'd never bothered to do before when getting ready for a sleepover at a friend's house. Before taking a shortcut via the Zeta Tube set up near the Batcave, the brunette had stood, completely bare, in front of his bedroom's full length mirror, first to make sure all of his worst bruises were healed enough that they wouldn't be perceived as unattractive, before picking out a comfortable but decent-looking outfit.

In the end, he'd settled for a pair of dusty gray jeans that hugged around his hips and thighs but flared out at the knees, a slim-fit dark blue t-shirt, sneakers and a dark hoodie due to the chill. Oh, and his sunglasses, of course, though he had taken those off before knocking, stuffing them into the overnight bag slung across his back.

The Boy Wonder took great satisfaction in the way Wally paused, eyes moving over his form in a way that was slower than necessary, before swallowing and opening the door a bit wider, "...Hey, Rob! Come on in."

He stepped inside, looking around.

It was just as nice inside, and surprisingly eclectic with the décor; ultra-modern applications mixed with more traditional looking antiques, the whole place had crème ceilings and dark wood floors, opening to a little hall with a staircase leading right up to the second floor in front, the living room was on the left side and the kitchen and dining room to the right.

"Make yourself at home!" He heard Wally call out, "Pizza's on the counter, you like just cheese, right?" From the sound of the redhead's muttering, he was looking for batteries for the DVD player.

Dick stepped out of his shoes and shrugged off his hoodie, a bit absently because of how pleased he was that Wally remembered how he liked his pizza, despite the fact that he hadn't eaten that particular food in his friend's presence in well over a year.

The living room was elegantly designed, the walls painted a deep red-maroon shade, with a white trim. A large flatscreen TV was mounted to the wall, just above a reddish mahogany brick fireplace, across from it were two ivory-and-cream coloured leather recliners with a three seater matching couch between them, a dark cherry wood coffee table in front of the sofa was decorated with silver framed pictures, as was the mantle of the fireplace.

Obviously someone cared quite a bit about this home, Dick was willing to guess it was Wally's mother. He moved to warm up in front of the lit fireplace, leaving his bag on the couch as he did so, and glancing at the numerous photographs.

What he noticed puzzled him.

There was a timeline of family photos, starting out with who he could only presume was Mr. and Mrs. West on their wedding day, and then professionally done pics of Wally as a baby, and several more of him as he got older. They were adorable, of course, but he couldn't help seeing a time gap. Photos of Wally and his family during birthdays and Easters and Christmases from birth until he was around four, and then a ton of them when he was around eight or nine and in his teens, but there seemed to be nothing capturing the years in between those ages.

He shrugged off a weird feeling, and picked up a particularly charming photo of his best friend, still looking at it when the speedster came in, and teased, "You snooping around my stuff, Bird Boy?"

"What? No." _Yes._

Laughing, the older teen looped his arm around the younger's shoulders, glancing down at the photo in Dick's hands, "It's cool, I don't mind. I know, I was a sexy beast even at eleven." He snickered, frowning when the brunette noticeably tensed.

Dick stared down at the silver framed photograph in his hands. It was of a party - Wally's birthday (how had he neglected to count the number of candles before?). In it, the little boy was happy, and impossibly sweet-looking, his aunt and uncle standing on either side of him.

There was no denying he was an unbelievably cute kid: Wally was rather small (apparently not having hit his growth spurt just yet), and had huge, sparkling green eyes that were somehow even _more_ puppy-like than they were now, his hair was a few shades lighter and slightly curly, framing a face that was chubby with the remaining traces of baby fat, cheeks rosy and splashed with double the freckles he currently possessed. His pouty shell pink lips were stretched into a wide smile.

He was the picture of innocence.

But all the raven-haired boy could think of was what later became of this sweet, angelic child. This was the age Wally said he was when his teacher had...

Realizing what that meant felt like a punch to the gut for the thirteen-year-old.

Wally seemed to understand where his thought process was going, because his silly good-naturedness suddenly vanished, and he took the frame from the brunette, setting it back down on the mantle, and turned to him, "How about _you_ get yourself some of that pizza before it goes cold while I pick out a few movies, then we can fight over which one we watch first?"

In all honesty, Dick's appetite had completely vanished at this point, but he appreciated the attempt at a distraction and shuffled off into the dining room anyways.

The connecting kitchen had the same dark wood floors as the rest of the house, but its walls were more of a creamy stucco, which paired well with the stainless steel appliances and and honey-coloured wooden dining set.

Sitting on one of the walnut countertops was an unopened box of cheese pizza, next to two empty ones of the "meat lovers" and "Hawaiian" variety. Dick wasn't on a vegetarian diet - he just thought things like ham and pepperoni belonged on sandwiches, while pineapple should just stay in fruit salads where they _belonged_.

Despite not being hungry anymore, he pulled off a cooled slice and nibbled half-heartedly at it, since Wally went through the trouble of ordering a separate one just for him (not that he thought it would go to waste, the redhead would eat pretty much anything that could be safely consumed).

While standing there, listening to Wally fumble with DVD cases and offer suggestions, he began to wonder what he was even doing there in the first place.

In reality he knew the sudden self-doubt was caused by a combination of nerves and the dark reminder he'd been hit with a few moments ago, but... did he _seriously_ come over on a Friday night, under the guise of a movie and junk food weekend, so he could seduce his best friend?

The truth slammed into him so fast and so unexpectedly that it made him stagger back under the invisible force behind it, and he dropped his half eaten slice of pizza on the counter, horror crawling over him.

He wasn't here because he wanted to have sex with Wally.

...Okay, he _was_.

But it wasn't for the right _reasons_. _Yes_ , he had admitted to himself that he was in love with the redhead, and _yes_ , part of that meant he was very much sexually attracted to him. He liked the idea of being intimate with him in every way possible a lot, of feeling as close to him as he did in the mountain when he was straddling the speedster's waist, their lips locked, feeling his heart buzzing under his palms. Despite the anxiety the idea gave him, he wanted it _badly_.

So it wasn't _all_ a lie.

Except he'd somehow even managed to fool _himself_ into thinking that love (and worries about statutory rape laws) was the _only_ reason. But his trauma from the incident with Pyotr factored in as well.

After seeing Jayme Anderson's show, the idea that just getting his first time over with meant not being freaked out by it anymore. But the real truth was that he only began thinking like that _after_ his assault, and after what Wally told him.

He was scared, that what that man had tried to do to him could happen again. As well trained as he was, Dick wasn't oblivious to the types of people whose radar Robin was on. For the most part, Batman had done a good job of keeping the sick (and not sick of the Joker variety) criminals away from him. But it didn't mean that he was safe against those predators - the perverts that hurt kids his age.

People like Pyotr, and Wally's fifth grade teacher.

They could be anywhere, which meant there was a chance it _could_ happen again, and that he might not be so lucky next time.

Dick never got why some people waited until after they were married to have sex. If you were in love with someone, what did a lousy piece of paper even _mean?_ He knew his mother would have been appalled by that line of thinking, but he couldn't help it. He wasn't sure how much stock he put in the idea of "virtue", and what it was supposed to symbolize.

It was hard to believe he had been so naïve as to not understand his own intentions.

But... did he _honestly_ think that losing his virginity to Wally as quickly as possible meant that if he was ever attacked sexually again, that if he was ever _raped_ (God, he was beginning to **_hate_** that word), that having had sex prior would somehow make it less horribly traumatic for him?

No, he didn't, because he was young, not _stupid_.

So why the _fuck_ was he even here?

 _Because you love Wally_ , a voice murmured in his head, _You love him and you need him, and you want him to love you back. You want to feel his hands on your body, his lips against yours, his-_

"Shut up!" Dick whispered harshly to himself, covering his ears as though it would somehow help to drown out the words that only he could hear. "Shut up, shut up, _shut up!_ "

"You talking to me, Rob?"

The brunette's eyes flashed open (he hadn't even realized that they were closed), and he whirled around to find his best friend staring at him with a look of concerned wariness, like he was about to talk down a psycho off a ledge, "You okay?"

 _Great, now he thinks you're crazy, Grayson. Way to go._ Dick grimaced at his stupid conscience making snarky commentary in his mind. _Well, you are having conversations with yourself, that can't be a good sign._

"Robin?" Any bemusement that might have been in Wally's tone now was gone; he set down the stack of DVDs he'd been carrying, and moved to his friend's side, putting a hand on his shoulder, and rubbing semi circles soothingly on his back. "You're all tense, what's wrong?"

 _...Hands gripped his wrists, just tight enough, pinning them to the door. A seductive voice was whispering in his ear. Wally pressed a knee between his legs, making him gasp and arch his back..._

"Nothing!" Dick's voice came out in a rougher timbre than usual, and he internally cursed while shifting his weight awkwardly, wishing the speedster would _stop_ massaging his shoulder, because it was _seriously_ distracting. "I just, uh, started thinking about something that's all..." Memories and thoughts and feelings were bouncing around his skull.

 _"Not too late for that kiss, you know."_

 _"Your choice, Little Bird."_

He could still feel Wally's lips hotly running over his neck, sending shivers of delight racing down his spine, teeth gently tugging at his earlobe, hands sliding up his hips, underneath his shirt.

 _"Look, Rob, I like you too, but I don't think we should date."_

 _"Maybe we could just see what happens?"_

Wally chuckled beside him, oblivious to his inner conflict. "Well, you know, sometimes thinking too much can be bad for you. It might be better to trust your instincts, or ask someone. You wanna tell me?" As eager to help as ever.

Despite the way his body was _begging_ him to go and jump Wally right this instant, the brunette teen was beyond confused about what the right choice to make was. His options weren't black and white, they were gray, and unclear.

 _"Do you want me to make you feel even better?"_

 _"You're irresistible."_

Suddenly, the hand that the redhead had been using to rub Dick's shoulder moved, sliding down the length of his arm in a way that was meant to be comforting, but in the end the touch was what made the teen lose control all together.

Dick sucked in a sharp breath as he spun around to face the speedster, ignoring his questioning look, and grabbed his face with both hands, crashing their lips together in a fierce kiss that dripped with raw lust. There was no way Wally wouldn't be able to feel it; desire, frustration and confusion, all in one.

The redhead was still as stone and unresponsive at first.

It wasn't until the Boy Wonder's hands moved to grip at his shoulders desperately and a pitiful, muffled whine left his throat that he came out of it.

A strong, unnaturally warm hand cupped the back of his head then, and those soft, smooth lips were kissing him back. Wally's arm abruptly wound around his waist, pulling the younger boy's body up against his own, making his head swim at the acute friction that resulted, even through their clothes.

Their tongues were duelling, saliva was mixed in the process, the sounds of their pants were the only real source of noise at the moment.

When they finally broke apart, Wally was breathing heavily, and gave the brunette a bewildered look, "What was that about, Dick?" He wanted to shudder at how the older teen spoke his name. Deep and throaty, mixed with want and honest curiosity.

Deciding to take the chance, Dick stepped closer and put a hand on the speedster's chest, the feeling of his heart racing through the Star Wars' shirt was a comfort.

The boy looked him right in the eye, "I know now." He said, remembering what the speedster said about waiting, the night after it all began, when he heard Wally's (mostly) fake sleep talking. "I wa- _no_ , I _need_ you, Wally. _Please_."

Holding his breath, he waited...

* * *

 **A shitty place for me to end this, I know, but considering how long it was getting I knew I'd need to split it into two chapters anyways. Hopefully this will help you hang in there for now.**

 **I should have the second chapter of "Sons Of The Bat" posted soon, btw.**


	18. The First Time

**All My Friends Are Superheroes**

 **Summary** : Being a teenaged hero is no walk in the park; juggling school, homework, superpowers, friends and family can be tough, especially when you and your secret boyfriend are tiptoeing around teammates, parents and mentors. However, sometimes in life you have to just stop worrying, and let the stones fall where they may. It might not be that bad, after all. Season 1. AU/OOC. Birdflash.

 **Point Of View** : Third person's POV, set in past tense/story format, with dreams/thoughts italicized. The focus will mainly be on Robin and Kid Flash, of course, but I fully plan to further explore their interactions with the team, and also with their JLA mentors. Story starts after the team has been established, right after the end of their first official mission together.

* * *

 _"There's this place in me where your fingertips still rest, your kisses still linger, and your whispers softly echo. It's the place where a part of you will forever be a part of me." - Gretchen Kemp_

* * *

Wally couldn't believe what he'd just heard.

Of course, he knew what Dick was asking of him - he wasn't an _idiot_. He got the significance behind the words as well, having an eidetic memory and supercharged brain activity made forgetting things a little difficult. It helped that he was the one who had told the other boy that they would wait until he was sure about what he wanted.

So he _understood_ it, yes, he just couldn't _believe_ it.

If it was nearly anyone else standing in front of him, his decision would have been made instantaneously, it would've been a no brainer. But because this was his best friend, he was unsure how to respond.

The two of them hadn't discussed sex in - well, _ever_. It just hadn't been something that was brought up. While they _had_ acknowledged what they were doing before was messing around and just rolling with it, this was something entirely different than that. They'd never gone past third base before - they'd never even been naked in front of each other, not _really_.

He wasn't hesitating to answer Dick because he didn't _want_ to do it. He was a horny, red-blooded teenage boy. Most kids his age didn't turn down sex, but this wasn't most _situations_.

"Wally?" He was pulled from his thoughts when the brunette addressed him, taking a step back and looking worried all of a sudden. Well, _freaked out_ would be more accurate. There was a flicker of doubt in the depths of his blue eyes, and he looked as though he suddenly wanted to run from the room.

 _Oh, shit._

The redhead felt like a complete jerk, because there he was having some kind of internal debate while the younger boy stood there, vulnerable, afraid and waiting for his reply.

"I... I'm... Huh?" He stammered.

 _Oh, great sentence, West._

Dick turned away, wrapping his arms tightly around himself, "I-It's okay if you... don't want to." He said stiffly, trying to keep the emotion out of his voice. "Just, the day after we first... well, you made it seem like you _had_ wanted to."

The speedster gulped, taking a step forward. He'd obviously hurt the younger boy by his lack of a clear, concise answer. "Dick?"

He turned around, and Wally captured his lips in a short, _hopefully_ reassuring kiss. "It's not that I don't _want_ to," His voice was hushed, "But we can't just... _do it_. We need to talk first, get ready, I don't want you going into it blind. I mean, you've never-"

"No. Never." The Boy Wonder confirmed, feeling a hot blush rising on his cheeks. "But you have, I know that much." His best friend didn't deny it, and the brunette was strangely unbothered by his own lack of experience in comparison. If they were going to go through with it, then it would probably be a good thing for at least one of them to know what the hell they were doing. "And...it wouldn't be _blind_ , exactly. I did some research, and preparing..."

Wally looked confused, "Research? What kind of-" he cut off, shock appeared on his face. " _No way_. Rob, have you been watching gay porn?"

"No!" Dick's whole face was burning with embarrassment, and when the redhead smirked, he realized the older boy was just teasing him. "That's not what I meant! S-Shut up!"

The speedster coughed to badly cover a laugh, "What kind of preparing _did_ you do, then?"

He averted his eyes, feeling extremely awkward now. "I, ah, brought some stuff with me... Things I bought online..."

Wally was now staring at him with unconcealed curiosity. That made him relax a bit - because it at least wasn't a straight forward rejection. "What _kind_ of stuff?" He asked, slowly.

"How about you take me to your room and I'll show you?" The raven-haired boy tried to sound more confident and desirable than he was currently feeling. It wasn't like he had his heart set on doing _everything_ right then and there, but really, what was the harm in just _trying?_

The redhead was surprised by his sudden change in demeanour. But... it was kind of hot. "That sounds like a good compromise," he finally agreed, a silent understanding passing between them.

No promises, they were just going to go with it again, do what felt right in the moment. It wasn't a great plan, but they both still wanted to try. At least it wasn't a no.

Dick had knots in his stomach, "I'll just... go get my bag, then." He stepped out into the living room to fetch his things, feeling Wally's eyes follow him as he did so. This wasn't how he had expected the night to go, but at least it wasn't turning out to be a complete disaster.

He pulled the bag up and over his shoulder, taking a deep, calming breath, and muttered, "I can do this." _But you don't have to,_ a little voice reminded. _It's okay to be scared of new things, but Wally won't do anything you ask him not to. He's your best friend, he won't hurt you. Just relax._

By the time he got to the staircase, the redhead was already waiting for him. Things were tense and quiet as they headed up, the brunette kept his eyes on the dark green walls.

When they finally reached the top, Dick's heart was pounding so hard he wondered how the speedster couldn't hear it.

There were several doors, but Wally saved him the trouble of guessing by leading him to the one on the far right. Just as they stepped inside, he spotted a sparkly flower sticker on the door at the very end of the hall, and made a note to ask about it later.

It was nothing like Dick thought it would be, and yet it was so utterly _Wally_ that he found himself relaxing ever so slightly.

His bedroom walls were painted a dark midnight blue, with a white trim. There were numerous blueprints and schematics, images and posters covering most available space on the walls, dedicated to all things scientific. The small wooden desk was stacked with papers and textbooks, as was the bookshelf - other items among them included framed photos, a laptop, various trinkets, trophies and even a microscope. Standing up in front of his window was an old telescope.

The sight of the double bed in the corner, with its inoffensive raspberry comforters and fluffy white pillows, was far more intimidating than it should have been, so he looked away rather quickly.

It wasn't nearly as messy as he thought it would be; Wally must have cleaned up before he arrived.

What caught his attention last probably should have been the first thing he noticed (though he _was_ a bit preoccupied): a gigantic glass tank that took up the length of an entire wall for itself.

"Cool, isn't it?" Wally spoke up beside him, "Here, check this out-" he shut off the bedroom light.

Dick's breath caught in his throat.

 _...Whoa._

The gargantuan aquarium was at least a couple hundred gallons large, and filled with a variety of saltwater tropical fish. Their vibrant colours were now illuminated by the ultraviolet light in the tank, making them glow as though they were neon (and some of them actually appeared to be). It was absolutely beautiful.

"It was a present for my fourteenth birthday, from Aunt Iris and Uncle Barry." The redhead have him a little nudge, "You can take a closer look, just no sudden movements. Some of them are skittish."

He inched forward slowly, listening to his best friend rattle off the different species and what their names were. According to Wally, there were thirty-four creatures total; four Ocellaris Clownfish - two were orange and white, and two were black and white - three Firefish, two French Angelfish, two Royal Angelfish, four Chalk Bass, two Flame Hawkfish, two Atlantic Blue Tangs and two Hippo Tangs, an Azure Damselfish, an Ornate Angelfish, two Pacific Cleaner Shrimp, a Pajama Cardinalfish, a One Spot Foxface, a Royal Gramma Fish, a Striped Mandarinfish, a Red Head Solon Fairy Wrasse, and three Nassarius Snails.

Dick frowned as he counted each one pointed out to him, "That's only thirty-three."

"Oh, duh!" Wally smacked the palm of his hand against his forehead, a habit he'd picked up from M'gann. "I forgot Luna!" He looked around for a moment, then grinned "There you are!" He lifted the tank kid and stuck his hand down to carefully stroke his fingertips over something floating by the surface that was nearly transparent and rather round-

 _Holy crap!_

"You have a pet jellyfish?!" The brunette's voice came out high pitched, his eyes wide with disbelief, "Are you _nuts?_ "

Wally started laughing, much to his chagrin. "Relax, Rob, Luna's harmless. Literally; the people we bought her from were breeders that got her grandparents in Palau, where it was discovered an entire lake exists full of Moon Jellyfish that, for some reason or another, don't have stingers. At least, not ones that are fatal." He was still petting... _Luna_. "People actually swim with them down there. Though there is a slight risk, this one here was genetically altered to _not_ have stingers. All of these fish have been bred so they are non-threatening towards each other, too, even if they're natural enemies. Science is _awesome_ , huh?"

"Yeah..." Normally, Robin _would_ have been pretty excited about learning that, but he was still rather tense at the moment. Just being in Wally's bedroom was making his anxiety return, not that it had ever completely left.

His jitters became most obvious when the redhead put a hand on his shoulder and he nearly jumped a foot into the air.

The older teenager frowned at him, "Robin," he addressed his best friend with the name he was most used to, looking him right in the eyes, seeing the panic there. "Listen to me. We _don't_ have to do this tonight. You know that, don't you?" When the brunette chewed his lower lip and didn't answer, Wally gently took his face in his hands, "Rob?"

"...I-I know," Dick breathed out, "But I _want_ to. I'm just a little... scared." It was harder to admit out loud than he thought it would be.

Green eyes softened at that, and before he knew it the brunette was being pulled into a tight hug, fingers combing through his hair, whispering in his ear, "You don't need to be scared, not with me. There's nothing wrong with feeling nervous, but I'm _not_ going to hurt you, Dick, I promise." He moved away enough to look at the younger boy, "We'll start slow, okay? And if you want to stop, just tell me. If I do anything that makes you uncomfortable, just push me away."

He lifted his chin slightly, "You won't get mad?"

"What?" Wally looked shocked, "No, of course not! I wouldn't blame you. You're still young, Rob. Besides, we have plenty of time to do that sort of thing. We're kids. There's absolutely no rush."

Dick gazed up into the speedster's emerald eyes, and the way they seemed to glow in the UV light had a soothing effect on him. He nodded. Going slow may not have worked so well last time, but knowing they could stop if it became too much and that the redhead wouldn't be upset as a result was an immense relief.

He allowed the bag to be tugged from his shoulder and deposited gently to the floor.

Smiling that stunning thousand watt smile of his, Wally moved his hand from the back of Dick's neck to his jaw, cupping it and running his thumb over the boy's cheekbone, slowly leaning forward.

The brunette's eyes fluttered shut as he stretched up to meet him halfway. As soon as their lips touched, the air around them was positively _electric_.

Wally's arm curled around the younger boy's waist, drawing him impossibly closer, their bodies pressed almost right up against each other. Tilting Dick's head back slightly, he deepened the kiss, the fingers holding his chin moved to gently wind through his soft-as-silk black hair.

Standing there, bathed in the glow of the black light together, the fish in his aquarium their only witnesses, the redhead was starting to see just _how much_ he loved the other teen.

Dick, meanwhile, felt his heart racing in his chest, metaphorical butterflies fluttering around inside of his stomach as he wrapped his arms around the speedster's neck, just doing what felt _right_. When Wally's tongue lightly traced over his lower lip, he gasped in surprise, and then the other hero slipped his tongue into the brunette's mouth, exploring the warm cavern, drawing a quiet groan from the younger boy that went straight to his crotch.

Eventually they had to pull apart for air, but they remained very close together, eyes locked. "Maybe we should... go lay down on the bed," the redhead said softly, "Just to, you know, get more comfortable?"

The thirteen-year-old kept looking him in the eyes so Wally could see the trust he was placing in him, and nodded, while the Metahuman was once more taken by how beautiful the brunette's deep blue eyes were, his soul seemed to shine through them, giving him a well-deserved angelic glow.

Silently, he led Dick by his hand to the bed, turning to face him and letting out a noise of surprise when the ninja thrusted his arms out and shoved him suddenly, the disrupted balance knocking him down onto the mattress, on his back.

Dick climbed on top of him before he could lose his nerve, straddling his waist and smiling with a giddy sort of nervousness, "You mind?"

The older teen blinked, and found himself grinning slightly, "Not at all." If his best friend taking charge was what was needed to bring out his true self - confident, teasing, and at times infuriating - then he would let the younger boy do whatever he damn well pleased with his body.

Leaning down, Dick kissed Wally's lips lightly, and then moved down his jaw, hesitating less when he heard the breathy sigh leave his companion, who grasped his hips almost possessively, green eyes already darkening with desire.

Moving so his face was hovering over the speedster's, the brunette eventually lifted his hand to Wally's face, resting the back of it against his cheek for a few moments, before he began to trace his features with the softest of touches, using his fingertips to follow every contour, every splash of freckles, the shape of his eyes, the curve of his lips... he wondered briefly how things between them could change this much and still feel so natural.

But, then again, maybe it _hadn't_. Perhaps this was always how they were supposed to turn out... What if every hug, every high five, every accidental brush of their fingers from the moment they had met was leading up to this?

Dick never got a chance to figure out an answer to that question, because when his finger faltered on the redhead's lower lip, Wally saw the opportunity to get his attention again.

Soon after he saw the ninja's gaze get far away, the speedster abruptly sucked the younger teen's index into his mouth, and that instantly snapped him out of it. He smirked at Dick (as much as he could anyways), and drew the digit in further, curling his tongue around the tip of it slowly, watching with twinkling eyes as the boy's breathing hitched, and he stared into his friend's dark orbs, shifting slightly as Wally's tongue flickered teasingly over his finger, _wet and warm and_ -

"T-That's really...distracting." Dick whispered, his voice was lower than usual, and he was trying his best not to squirm. The moment was broken when Wally released his index and grinned, "That was the point, Boy Wonderful. How's the anxiety?"

Unable to help himself, the brunette smirked, "Rapidly disappearing. Can't say the same for your... _excitement_ , though." He shifted again, this time with a goal in mind, and the Metahuman let out a hiss when the boy's weight pressed against his clothed erection.

"Tease," Wally muttered, knowing full well that he was the one who started it, "You're not the only one who can play dirty, just so you know."

Dick arched an eyebrow at him, accepting the challenge silently.

With a chuckle, the redhead used his grip on the boy's hips to roll them over suddenly, so Dick was laying on his back, underneath him. He paused for a moment, to make sure the other teen wouldn't get upset over this.

"Do your worst."

 _Oh, it is so on._ Wally braced his hands against the mattress, on either side of the ninja's head, and leaned down to kiss the spot just below his ear, "Actually, I think I'd rather do my _best_." He breathed, lips curling into a grin again when it made the raven-haired boy shiver, and he proceeded to ghost his mouth over the brunette's throat, licking and nipping gently.

"So sensitive..." he murmured under his breath while Dick quietly whimpered, tipping his head back in order to give him better access. The younger boy pressed his face slightly into the nearest pillow, heat seemed to scorch through his body as Wally's lips glided down his neck, pausing to suck at his collarbone, making him want to writhe and squirm at the sensations.

"We're wearing _way_ too many clothes," the speedster declared suddenly, leaning away from the brunette's neck (much to his displeasure), and sitting up before pulling off his Star Wars t-shirt, chucking it somewhere on the floor behind him.

Being on the same team and going on missions that often required showering together afterwards, this wasn't the first time Dick had seen his best friend shirtless, but this was... _different_. Now he was close enough to see, to _touch..._ The first thing he noticed was the older teenager's slim, muscular physique. He'd never really stopped to appreciate it before, but the redhead was actually a lot more toned and fit than one would guess from a single glance. He supposed it was another benefit of his speed; Wally wasn't exactly a fan of exercise, at least as far as he knew. He was a science geek after all.

Not that there was anything wrong with that, as he was quite the tech-nerd himself, and people never hesitated to remind him of that. Who else would find advanced computer algorithms interesting?

Dick also took note of the many different scars marring the otherwise soft, pale skin of Wally's chest.

Speedsters didn't typically scar—due to their remarkable healing abilities and complicated biology. Otherwise there would still be a nasty one where a bullet had been dug out of Wally's chest, so that told him he had to have gotten them _before_ the experiment he'd done on himself to copy Flash's powers. They didn't bother him, God only knew how many scars he'd gotten as Robin over the years, but he _was_ a bit curious...

Deciding it could wait however, he reached up and placed his hand over the older teen's hummingbird-like heart, feeling the vibrations and the energy come from it, even without him using his speed. It was fascinating, and he briefly wondered if the older boy had to avoid doctor's checkups because of it.

Sensing his train of thought, Wally murmured quietly, "It beats even faster whenever you're around me."

Immediately, he wanted to smack himself, because how lame could he _get?_

Dick laughed softly, but the warmth in his eyes told the redhead that he found the admittedly corny remark rather cute. The sound died in his throat when his friend caught the hem of his own shirt, making him pause, "...Can I?" he checked.

After a moment, the boy nodded, and reached down to wrap his fingers around Wally's hand, lifting his torso up slightly to help him peel it off.

Unlike him, the speedster was at least somewhat naturally athletic, but the younger boy's small body was packed with hard muscles from years of pushing himself in training. The result was a flat, perfectly toned stomach and trimmed physique. Although he had been raised an acrobat with gymnastic lineage, Dick knew if he hadn't been exercising from the time he could talk, he probably would have been just another scrawny thirteen-year-old. He loved that Wally wasn't overly buff like some kind of gym rat. With him there was a softness, a warmth to his muscles, he could feel them flex and give under his touch, and it sent a small thrill through him.

Also unlike Wally, none of Dick's scars had completely faded into nonexistence, making him a bit self-conscious about being shirtless in this situation. Some were lighter and less visible than others, but they were still there. Once more his best friend seemed to understand what he was thinking, because he started kissing his chest; sweet, light pecks, trailing up across his throat and jaw, before stopping to capture his lips for a long moment.

"You're gorgeous, Rob," The redhead told him, sincerity written across his face.

The raven-haired teen blushed lightly, "I-I'm not really... You're ju– _Oh!_ " He gasped when something soft and wet was suddenly dragged across his nipple, and the older teen grinned, "No arguing, I'm _not_ messing with you." His words harkened back to Dick doubting everything Wally told him in those first few weeks - be it about how attractive he found him or even how he wanted to kiss him.

Wally could understand the fragile self esteem - Robin acted cocky on the field, but what he had begun to realize in the last couple of months was that it was his way of hiding his fears. A facade. Being the smallest and youngest on a team that you were already expected to one day lead couldn't be very fun, even if his size gave him an advantage in other ways. Plus Robin was the only one of the original four team members that wasn't an alien or a type of human sub-species. But just like his mentor, his lack of advantage with superpowers meant he was talented in other ways. He didn't have fire, Kryptonite, or a hyper metabolism to worry about in the field. He was a technological genius and a supremely skilled athlete whose abilities didn't come from any unnatural source. He'd earned the respect the others all had for him.

But Wally understood being self-conscious despite knowing how good you were. He himself had his own doubts at times, even with being superpowered.

The problem here, however, was that Robin didn't seem to realize just how _pretty_ he was. And by God, was he ever. His raven black hair was soft and silky, his frame small; slender yet still athletic. His skin was smooth and perfect and pale, like porcelain or pearl. The scars and fading bruises barely registered to him. What was loveliest of all, though, at least physically, were the eyes that privileged few got to see; pure and bright and clear yet somehow veiled at the same time. Like an undisturbed body of water, crystalline.

He was beautiful, and Wally fully intended to prove that to him.

Without giving Dick the chance to say anything else, the speedster lowered his head again, softly skimming his lips over the teen's dusky nipple, hearing his breath catch a little in response. Starting off slow, Wally just barely grazed the pad of his thumb over the raised bud, and when there was no protest or otherwise negative reaction, he lightly circled it with his tongue, gently rolling the other one between his thumb and forefinger.

"A–Ahh... Nnnnnngh..." Dick's voice quivered slightly as he brought a trembling hand up to the back of the teen's head. Unsure what to do with himself, he settled for skimming his fingers through Wally's messy ginger locks.

The fifteen-year-old smiled, watching a deep blush crawl across Dick's face, and took one of his nipples completely into his mouth, sucking, an action that made the brunette's head fall back against the mattress as he let out a loud, surprised moan, fingers gripping tighter at the redhead's hair when he switched to the other side.

"You like that, don't you, Boy Wonder?" Wally mumbled against the rosy flesh, not minding the light hair tugging in the least.

It didn't take much more teasing before he had Dick squirming on the bed, his breathing shaky and uneven. The younger teen was visibly relaxed at this point, though, and the flush on his face had spread down his neck and chest, making him look ridiculously cuter than he already had.

When the redhead moved back up to claim his lips again, the brunette was far more enthusiastic than he'd been earlier, throwing his arms around Wally's neck and kissing him back fiercely.

Huh, who knew a little nipple play could be such a turn on?

Their kissing became more passionate, lustful, hands less and less afraid of touching, exploring, and Wally suddenly bit down on the younger boy's lower lip, drawing a muffled whimper of his name from Dick's throat.

Wally thought it was the best sound he'd ever heard.

Settling in between the brunette's legs, the speedster pressed his hips down sharply, causing Dick to jerk his head back and break the kiss, "Ahhh!"

Taking in the raven-haired boy's reddening face and glazed blue eyes, Wally grinned slightly and slid his hand down the younger teenager's thigh, to the front of his sinfully tight jeans. He fingered the outline of his cock teasingly, giving the head a light squeeze.

" _Wally!_ " Dick's voice was breathless and exasperated, "Wha–? Oh _God..._ " He choked on a moan as the redhead roughly cupped him through the denim, palming at his erection, and he could feel himself getting harder even through the material.

"That feel good, Babe?" The speedster asked seductively, lips brushing over his pulse point before his teeth lightly clamped down on the Boy Wonder's earlobe, sucking gently, "You want more?"

"... _Yes,_ " Dick finally gasped out, his brain fogging up with the raging _desire_ pumping through his bloodstream. God, he knew Wally was older, but how was it possible for him to be so _good?_ The younger teen was finding it difficult to remember why he'd ever been afraid in the first place. "I, _uhh_ , need–" he cut himself off with a whine when the redhead stopped touching him.

"Tell me what you need, Rob, what should I do?" The speedster admired what had become of his best friend, the brunette's fingers were gripping the blanket beneath him, his head tilted back and lips parted, slightly swollen from kissing.

"Ahhhn!" Dick groaned desperately when Wally pressed his hand against his crotch again, the unnatural heat seeping through his pants, making him ache even more. "Wally, _please!_ Just... touch me!"

The redhead chuckled, and started vibrating his hand, dragging a strangled sound out of the brunette, "I _am_ touching you, Rob, care to be more specific than that?" He added some more pressure, making Dick involuntarily arch up off the bed suddenly, frustrated, trying to get more contact somehow.

"Mmm... Ahh...hah..." The younger boy gripped the blanket, a tremor going through him.

Wally pulled away when his friend started getting visibly closer, not wanting things to end before they really began.

They were still half dressed after all.

He'd gotten a bit carried away, and while that was mostly okay because he'd been sexually active for a while now and could hang in there, Dick was still inexperienced, and the redhead wanted to make it _really_ good for him before the night was over.

As the speedster began to tug the jeans down, Dick lifted his hips slightly to make it easier, sitting up once they were out of the way, reaching forward to pull Wally into another kiss, deep and passionate.

There was a foreign hunger desperately clawing at the boy's insides, a need longing to be fulfilled. The strange, rather new sensations he was experiencing should have frightened him. But the only thing Dick felt was desire and trust, which was why he didn't protest when Wally unexpectedly pulled him into his lap, rolling his hips up and-

 _Hnnngh, oh God!_

When Wally had somehow ditched his own pants without him noticing, the brunette had _no_ _idea_.

But the pleasure was so much _sharper_ now than when it had been all those weeks back on the Mountain, he couldn't imagine how it would feel when they were both actually completely naked.

"W-Wally," he gasped as the older teen bucked up again, causing their cocks to rub together deliciously, separated only by thin layers of cotton. Lips were on his neck once more then, trailing upwards to kiss at the spot behind his ear, before biting down oh-so-gently, making a shudder race down his spine, mouth opening in a silent moan.

It just felt so _good_.

The redhead brought his face back to Dick's, kissing him ravenously, running his hands all over the younger boy's torso - stroking his back, his chest, his sides - his pupils were blown so wide that his irises had become tiny green slivers. It was a wonder he could even see at all.

Without realizing it, Dick had begun rocking himself down in Wally's lap, panting at the sweet, painful friction, stopping only when he heard the Metahuman mutter breathlessly against his jaw, "God, I want you so much."

The idea of sex was becoming extremely appealing at that point, even if they'd both be satisfied continuing on as they were - he really wanted to go all the way with the older boy, if only because he was sure that everything he was experiencing in that moment could never be duplicated. He'd never meet another person that got him like Wally did, who made him feel like _this_.

Gazing into the face of his best friend banished any remaining doubt in his mind, and he somehow managed to summon the cooperation of his vocal chords, "Then...take me." He breathed out, "I'm yours."

Despite being already nearly black colour, Wally's eyes somehow visibly darkened, and he looked like he wanted to ravish him right there and then. "We'll need some things first," in a flash he was gone, and then back again, kneeling on the bed, Dick's bag in his hand.

...Oh, right. The supplies he'd brought had honestly slipped his mind, "Zippered pouch on the inside."

Wally pulled the items out, eyebrows nearly disappearing in his hairline when he saw what a thirteen year old boy somehow managed to buy online without getting caught. "Kimono Micro-Thin Aqua Lube Lambskin Condoms?" His voice was incredulous.

The younger teen could feel his face turning scarlet, "Yeah, well...um, I-I didn't know if-"

The redhead cut him off, "Relax, Rob. STIs are covered under my awesome immunity, but they're probably still a good idea though - just incase." He didn't seem mad, as Dick had worried he would be. Condoms were only a precaution, but he hadn't wanted the speedster to think he was _implying_ anything.

Of course, immune or not, Wally probably still used them anyways when he was with girls to prevent pregnancy and... Dick _wasn't_ going to think about that, not right now. The idea of someone else with the redhead, in his place - male or female - made his heart twist painfully.

Moving onto the other stuff, Wally continued to further embarrass him by reading the labels out loud, "AfterGlow After-Care Antibacterial Cleansing Tissues... Oh, here." He held up a small, discreet tube, "Liquid Silk Water-Based Lubricant." He was relieved that the brunette had done his research, because this was something they _definitely_ needed that the speedster didn't happen to have handy at the moment.

"Um, t-the suggestions online recommended it the most..." Dick muttered, cheeks aflame. "I took their word for it because..."

Wally finished the sentence for him, "You've never tried anything like that. Not even by yourself?" He checked, before noticing the flash of uncertainty in his eyes. "Rob... _Dick_ , it isn't too late to stop."

"I still want to," Dick told him firmly, before asking in a more hesitant tone, "...Will it hurt?"

He dropped the tube on the bed and shuffled over so he was sitting right in front of him, and took his hands. "Sex is painful if it's done _wrong_." That was one of the first things the redhead had learned in the past couple of years. "But _I_ won't hurt you, okay? It might be a little uncomfortable in the beginning, though. It's usually weird the first few times." He paused, "There are other ways though, I mean, if you want..."

The brunette shaking his head made him stop, "No, I... I trust you, Wally."

Wally swallowed the lump in his throat. Sure, he'd already known that, the younger boy had shown him with his actions time and time again, but hearing it out loud made his heart swell. He swore to himself at that moment never to do anything to break that trust.

"Alright. First, you should lay down," he suggested, wanting Dick to be as comfortable as possible. "You can go on your stomach, it's easier that way for both of us."

Dick licked his lips, trying to moisten them, "I want to see you." He admitted quietly.

The thought of not looking at his best friend's face while he took his virginity seemed... _wrong_ , somehow. If this was really something he'd remember for the rest of his life, he wanted to be looking at beautiful green eyes, not a pillow.

Wally let out a breath, and smiled, "Well, we could always try it with me laying down and you sitting on top of me, it gets a little tiring after a while..." He trailed off, realizing that thigh and leg strength probably wouldn't be a problem for a master acrobat.

"Maybe we should try it the normal way, first?" The younger of the two suggested, frowning when Wally chuckled, "What's so funny?"

The redhead grinned, before leaning over and pressing his lips against Dick's, guiding him to lay down on his back in the middle of the mattress. "Us, _normal_. I'm a teenager with homemade electrically slash chemically induced super speed and reflexes, you're a former circus star and ninja sidekick to a billionaire bachelor that dresses up like a rodent with wings and fights crime under the cover of darkness." He looked down at the brunette, eyes sparkling with glee. "We're weird as _fuck_ , Robin, but we're weird together, so I don't mind."

Dick laughed at his words, louder than he probably should have, and any tension that had returned to his body in nervous anticipation was leaving once more, "You say weird, I say _awesome_."

"That too."

Hovering over the younger teen, Wally dipped his head down to brush their lips together, as he slipped his index and middle finger into the waistband of Dick's boxers, pulling them down slowly, and then smiling when the raven-haired boy barely seemed aware of it.

Sitting up straight, Wally licked his lips at the sight of the brunette's cock, reaching forward only to have his hand swatted away by the pouting thirteen-year-old, who promptly pointed at the redhead's underwear, "Those off first." He tried to sound stern, but that was difficult with his face burning, resisting the urge to close his legs.

Trust or not, it still felt odd being so _exposed_.

Understanding his nerves, Wally stood up, slower than he normally would have, and dragged down his underwear to his ankles before kicking them aside. He got back on the bed and saw Dick cast his gaze on the older boy's manhood, forcing himself not to blush and look away.

He was starting to get nervous again, but Wally had promised not to hurt him, so he forced himself to relax. While he kind of wanted to reach out and touch the redhead, mostly out of curiosity, he knew by stalling he would only freak himself out even more.

They'd have plenty of opportunities to explore each others' bodies another time.

Laying down, he blinked when Wally followed him, hovering over Dick before smiling and slowly lowering himself down to-

" _Nnnngh!_ " Dick moaned loudly when the redhead's bare erection brushed against his own, feeling sharp pleasurable sparks flow through his thighs and clench tight in his stomach. The friction was dry but it still made his brain fuzzy.

"Rob?" He heard the speedster murmur, his voice husky with desire, "Lift your hips a little, okay?"

The acrobat immediately did so, about to question why when he felt a pillow being slipped underneath him, propping him up more.

A few moments later, there was a bizarre 'pop!' sound, and Dick felt lips press against his thigh, before his legs were being nudged apart gently. He swallowed, trying his best to stay relaxed. He closed his eyes and focused on the trail being kissed over his hipbone.

Despite Wally's calming actions, he still jumped a little when a cold, slick finger began prodding at a very intimate location. He almost wanted to call everything off right then because it was too _strange_ and how did people stand letting others touch them down _there?_ Would this have been easier if he were female?

Unlikely; that he and Wally were both guys felt pretty irrelevant. He had expected the other teen to just get to it, though. Instead, the redhead was softly rubbing at his entrance with his index finger, trying to let him get used to it, before very slowly starting to press just the tip in.

Dick bit his lower lip, trying to focus on the sensations of earlier; Wally's hands and lips on him, the sweet whispering in his ear... It worked, he began to calm down, and though it was still really odd having someone pushing their finger up his ass, he was slowly getting used to it.

The whole time, Wally's eyes were fixed intently on the younger teen's expression, keeping a look out for any facial or verbal cues that Dick was in pain, or that he wanted to stop. He _did_ seem rather uncomfortable, but that was to be expected. The redhead kept adding more lube to make sure the brunette was as thoroughly prepped as he could be, but by the time he had two fingers inside of him, he could see the tension returning to the Boy Wonder.

Removing his fingers briefly to slick them up with more of the water-based lubricant, he frowned at the near-whimper Dick released as he pressed them back inside. He wasn't in pain, but he also was quite obviously not enjoying himself either.

It had been a long time since he'd done this sort of thing to anyone (besides himself), but he remembered that everyone was different in terms of what felt good, so Wally tried out a few different techniques, scissoring and corkscrewing therm deeper, before he began gently stroking his fingertips over Dick's inner walls, at one point twisting them abruptly and listening as the younger boy's breathing became deeper, shuddery.

Only after he was pumping three in and out of the brunette did he start to show more positive responses, gripping at the blanket underneath him before letting go, or running his fingers through his hair and nibbling at his lower lip.

Then, Wally's fingers brushed against something and Dick jerked like he had been electrocuted, eyes flashing open as he let out a high pitched whine, going limp and panting for air. His expression was confused, "Wally? W...What was- _Oh!_ " He inhaled sharply when the redhead poked it again, picking up the pace of which he was thrusting his fingers into the ninja's tight passage.

It wasn't long before Dick was wriggling on the bed, his breathing coming in short little gasps, making Wally grin when he _finally_ seemed to be doing something right.

" _Hnnngh!_ " The boy cried out suddenly as the speedster harshly curled his digits against his sweet spot, rubbing it teasingly. "Wally, God, _please_." He clamped a hand down over his mouth, trying to lock the embarrassing noises in.

By this point, though, Wally had thoroughly stretched him out, and he hoped that it would make things as easy as possible for the younger boy.

Dick recovered enough to lift his head up, sweat already plastering his dark bangs to his face, and watched with hazy eyes as Wally rolled on one of the condoms and slicked himself up. Yes, the brand his friend brought were already pre-lubricated but he wanted to be _sure_. Hurting his best friend - no matter how unintentionally - was _not_ an option.

Soon, the redhead was hovering over the brunette, chuckling at the impatient excitement now dominating the brunette's expression, before becoming serious again, "Dick-"

"Yes." He answered firmly, for what felt like the umpteenth time, "I'm positive, Wally, just...please?" He was physically ready, emotionally too. He grabbed the speedster's face and kissed him deeply for a moment, trying to convey his trust and need, before running his hands down the older boy's back, making him shiver with delight.

 _...Okay, let's do this_. Maybe Wally was more nervous himself than he'd initially anticipated, but could you blame him? Technically speaking, this would be his first time having sex with someone he actually gave a crap about, he'd never done it before for any other reason than because they were attractive and he was horny.

Settling between the Boy Wonder's legs, he positioned himself, and began pressing in _slowly_.

 _Oh! Nnngh, fuck, he's so..._

Wally gritted his teeth, forcing himself to hold still once he was fully sheathed in the quivering body beneath him. Dick's face was scrunched up in discomfort, but there didn't appear to be any pain. The thirteen year old blinked his eyes open, taking a few deep breaths, and frowned at the look on the other's face, starting to push himself up, "Wally?"

"Don't!" The redhead caught the brunette's arms, forcing him to hold still, "Don't move. I just, _ah_ , need a few seconds..." He tried to focus on slowing his heartbeat down, and was surprised when it actually worked.

Eventually gaining enough control over his own body, the speedster asked, "You okay? Does...does it hurt?"

"I think I'm good," Dick told him, his fingers had a white knuckled grip on the blanket, but that appeared to be more out of impatience, "You can...you can move now." It came out sounding more like a question.

Wally gave a slight nod, taking ahold of the boy's hips, and withdrawing slowly, angling his hips before pressing back in with a gentle force, prompting Dick to let out a strangled sound at the new, intense feeling.

The rhythm began slow, but it wasn't long before he was panting, lightly rolling his hips into it, reaching up to grab the Metahuman's shoulders because he _needed_ something to hold onto.

"A-Ahhh! Wally!" Dick's entire body shuddered when the tip of the redhead's cock just _barely_ grazed his prostate, and he began to squirm under him, lifting his legs to wrap around the older teen's waist without even realizing it.

"Fuck, _Rob_."

Seeing his best friend already starting to lose it under him was way too hot. Wally distracted himself by peppering kisses over the ninja's neck, savouring the sweet sound of his gasps and whines. Dick's arms curled around his neck and his impossibly snug passage seemed to squeeze him even tighter.

Wally was panting in the boy's ear, "Jesus, you feel so _good_ , Dick. So tight and warm..." He groaned. That was when he felt it, the slightest quiver go through his body, and Wally went still, panic slamming into him like a title wave.

...At least until he remembered _who_ he was with.

The brunette knew all about his speed, he didn't need to hide it. In fact, he could utilize it, which was something he proceeded to do. The redhead let go of the excess energy that was fighting to escape him, causing the vibrations to run through him and up into the younger boy's oversensitive body.

" _Wally,_ " Dick nearly sobbed out his name, writhing under him suddenly, his hands shaking as he became torn between pushing the speedster away and pulling him closer. The unbearable heat and friction was building, and the bedroom felt like an inferno.

"P–Please, it's... _Ahhhhh_. Oh God, I _can't–_ " He sounded frustrated, knowing exactly what he wanted to say, but his brain felt fried and he couldn't articulate it.

The redhead hissed when the thirteen-year-old raked his nails down his back, but the sting felt kind of nice and the scratches would heal within the hour anyway. He couldn't believe how _wrecked_ Dick looked already, his face soaked with sweat, eyes glazed over in pleasure, chest flushed and heaving.

It was unbelievably _hot_ and Wally was quite sure he'd never been so turned on in his entire _life_.

Suddenly, he needed to taste him again, and the speedster crushed his lips against Dick's in a hard, bruising kiss which he readily returned until he felt the redhead angle his hips on the next thrust, slamming into him in a way that made him choke out a cry as he arched his back, sparks searing straight up his spine.

His whimpered moans only got louder when Wally's lightly vibrating hand wrapped around his cock, his teeth tugging gently at his earlobe, "You close, Rob?" His voice was rough and strained, and the sound just made Dick's stomach clench even more, feeling a pressure building up quickly as the redhead began stroking him in time to his now erratic thrusts.

"Mmm... C'mon, Baby." Wally breathed, pressing his face into the boy's collarbone, nibbling at it. "I've got you. Come for me, _Richard_."

That was it for Dick, hearing his best friend's lust soaked voice caress his real name like that made him lift up off the bed and _scream_. Pure, white hot pleasure _ripped_ through him, blinding him temporarily.

He heard the redhead curse audibly above him, gripping his hips tight enough to bruise, and buck into him a couple of more times, causing the younger boy to squirm around as Wally milked his orgasm, before he fell off the edge shortly after the brunette.

Dick felt his best friend kiss him softly, but he was suddenly way too drained to respond. He couldn't bring himself to even open his eyes and look at the ginger, but he did feel him carefully pull out of his limp body.

There was shifting on the mattress and a rush of cool air that made him shiver.

But, then, Wally was back, and he felt fingers slide under his chin, tipping his head back. Something damp and soft rubbed over his cheek, and he forced himself to look, finding the redhead above him.

At the questioning expression, he merely smiled and continued to wipe his best friend down with the cool washcloth, tossing it down on the floor afterwards to deal with later along with their discarded clothes.

Unsurprisingly, Wally cuddled up to Dick, pulling the blanket at the foot of the bed up and over their naked bodies. The younger boy felt completely fine with it. He supposed that after what they'd done together it wasn't a big deal anymore.

Sex was nothing like he'd imagined it would be.

It was a thousand times better, though he suspected that ninety percent of the reason was because of who he'd chosen to have it with.

What people said was true, losing your virginity _did_ change you. He was still trying to figure out how. It was sort of like when he'd turned thirteen and expected to suddenly feel older, but didn't. Only this time he wasn't left disappointed.

At the moment, all he felt was indescribable happiness. Which, Dick supposed, would technically _make_ it describable, but he was way too tired to analyze words at the momemt. Instead, he leaned back into Wally's embrace, "Tonight wasn't a very successful movie marathon." Granted, that had been the plan, but he digressed...

"True," Wally agreed, carding his fingers through the younger boy's tangled black hair, making him become even sleepier, "But I'd say it was very productive for our relationship."

Eyes immediately opening at that, the brunette rolled over to face him, ignoring the slight soreness below his waist, "Is that your way of saying you want to date me?" He asked, almost hopefully.

Maybe now was the right time to admit how he felt?

"No."

Dick's heart plummeted, and Wally quickly took a firm but gentle grasp of his face before the boy could turn away, "I've said I'd take you on a date twice now - and I quite obviously suck at following through on it. I say we just skip all the bullshit."

Seeing the utterly perplexed expression on the younger teen's face, the redhead chuckled, pulling him closer and pecking his lips once. "Dick..." He hesitated, before confidence sparked in his eyes, "Robin, I love you." The boy froze at his words, "Will you be my boyfriend?"

He was slightly in shock.

Dick never thought Wally would be the first one to say it, but the closest he'd felt to utter joy since before his family died (not including becoming Batman's protégé, which had been more bittersweet than anything) filled him, and he threw his arms around the redhead, hugging him tight, kissing his face, unsure he could express how he felt.

Wally laughed, his chest shaking slightly against Dick's, "Is that a yes, then?"

"Absolutely!" The raven-haired boy managed to get out, "Yes! I love you too, Wally, so much." Tears were stinging his eyes, but his heart was soaring as the speedster brushed them away with his thumb, his own green eyes a little misty.

They shared quite a few more kisses after that, cradling one another close and sharing sweet words that normally would have been too embarrassing to say out loud. Despite Wally offering to carry him downstairs (he was the dorkiest gentleman _ever_ ), Dick wasn't in the mood for movies anymore.

In the end, they slipped their boxers back on and heated up some of the pizza, remaining together in Wally's bed, just talking, enjoying the glowing bliss around them. When the two finally fell asleep in each other's arms, it was with a smile.

They both rested peacefully that night, for once completely unburdened.

* * *

 **That was a long chapter, I thought it might be too wordy, though I also felt it was one of my better smut scenes. This story could technically end here, but there's still so much I want to write, so I'll update again soon!**

 **Be sure to leave a review and let me know what you think so far**!


	19. Bittersweet

**All My Friends Are Superheroes**

 **Summary** : Being a teenaged hero is no walk in the park; juggling school, homework, superpowers, friends and family can be tough, especially when you and your secret boyfriend are tiptoeing around teammates, parents and mentors. However, sometimes in life you have to just stop worrying, and let the stones fall where they may. It might not be that bad, after all. Season 1. AU/OOC. Birdflash.

 **Point Of View** : Third person's POV, set in past tense/story format, with dreams/thoughts italicized. The focus will mainly be on Robin and Kid Flash, of course, but I fully plan to further explore their interactions with the team, and also with their JLA mentors. Story starts after the team has been established, right after the end of their first official mission together.

* * *

 _"I never expected to fall in love. I never expected to float or fall a thousand feet and create the crevice I called my life. But the thing with crevices, there's always a top and always a bottom. And the feeling of appreciation when you look from the top and understand how fast it can all come crashing down — it's more than beautiful and more than words could ever explain." - Dominic Riccitello_

* * *

The next morning roused Dick by casting a bright stream of warm sunlight through the slightly parted curtain in the bedroom window. He yawned softly as he sat up, blinking and looking around in confusion for a moment, unsure of where he was.

Normally this would have sent him into a panic, but this time he felt an unusual calmness instead, and as memories of last night came flooding back, he suddenly knew why that was.

He and Wally went through with having sex for the first time last night.

Well, he supposed the technical term would have to be that they'd had _intercourse_ for the first time, because even before yesterday they had messed around, it had just never gone all the way.

Rather than feeling embarrassed or shy about it, his heart seemed to swell with happiness, and it took a moment to realize that his face only hurt because he was smiling so widely. He managed to control his facial muscles slightly, and ran a hand over his cheek, fingertips pausing to brush over his lips, remembering the way Wally had adoringly kissed him and cradled him close.

They were _boyfriends_ now.

It was almost impossible to believe, simply due to how magical and perfect it all had seemed - even the awkward and uncomfortable parts. Yet, he knew it wasn't actually a dream. It was _real_ , and his chemistry with the speedster was _real_. He couldn't possibly imagine the utter joy he'd felt at the older teen confessing his love like that.

Glancing down to the side, he noticed Wally was gone, and in his place was a little note, which he picked up and read out loud, wondering why he hadn't spotted it sooner. "Dick, went to the store to pick up some stuff for breakfast, there's not much to eat here since we finished the pizza." He chuckled at that, "Didn't want to wake you. Be back soon, love...your boyfriend." Beaming again as he spoke the words out loud, he almost missed the messy scrawl added to the bottom of the paper, "P.S. You looked cold so I gave you my old sweater, hope you don't mind."

Dick's gaze flickered downwards and he saw that he was, indeed, wearing a sweater. It was a faded red one that was at least two sizes too big for him, and had the Flash's emblem on the front, plus little yellow lightning bolts on the hood that made him snort and roll his eyes in amusement.

Although...it _was_ rather cozy and soft.

To his surprise (and utter delight), it smelled _just like_ the redhead, indicating he'd worn it rather recently. Dick laid back down and hugged the soft fabric closer, inhaling deeply. His best friend's scent had always soothed and intrigued him.

It was difficult to place because there was the more prominent earthy pine scent of sandalwood layered over a spice and subtle sweetness; like cinnamon and vanilla. Aside from that, he caught a whiff of amber, mixed with some citrusy notes.

Whatever the scent was, he _loved_ it, because it was intoxicating.

Just like Wally.

His thoughts drifted back to last night, and he once more found himself smiling. The speedster had been so attentive and understanding, he'd held him tenderly, reassured him when he was nervous, and then made love to him... It was so surreal. While in fiction he'd liked the _idea_ of love and romance, Dick hadn't thought that it would be his thing in reality.

Apparently he was wrong.

The raven-haired boy had always (pessimistically) assumed that he'd end up like Batman one day - jaded and alone because he was too afraid of putting someone he cared about in danger. But with dating another hero, it was possible he could actually avoid that fate. Originally he'd been okay with the whole idea. Or at the very least _accepting_ of it. After all, he hadn't wanted to fall in love only to have that person snatched away from him.

Last night made him learn a lot of things that he hadn't expected, though. Like Wally being mutually in love with him, or sex being as great as people said. Both were true, though.

 _Especially_ about the second thing.

Thinking about how the redhead had touched him made a shiver run down his spine, hearing the echoes of Wally panting his name in his ear, hands caressing every reachable part of his body...

Dick buried his face in the fabric of the hoodie and breathed in again, letting his boyfriend's aroma overwhelm his senses. The young boy reached up and ran his fingers over his bottom lip again, releasing a soft sigh as he did so, recalling the sensation of Wally biting down on it teasingly. Feeling a sudden pang of arousal between his legs, he huffed in annoyance.

That always happened when he thought of the speedster these days. It only became reoccurring after he no longer had to use his imagination of what it would be like to kiss him, touch him... his hormones began assaulting him three times as frequently as they used to before what had happened that first night in Wally's room, against the bedroom door.

Remembering the older boy grabbing his wrists and pinning them above his head as he pressed their hips together had him getting hot all over, and before the ninja knew it he was starting to get _visibly_ turned on.

He attempted to redirect his thoughts in a non-sexual direction, like schoolwork, but to no avail.

Considering his options for a moment, the dark haired teen sighed and eventually raised a hand, reaching down the expanse of his body while he kicked the covers off of his legs. Cupping himself through his boxers, he released a quiet groan, and began lazily rubbing his half-hard erection.

The brunette didn't masturbate often. Not because he never got horny, but mostly because it generally wasn't all that enjoyable for him. Sure, it got the job done, but he'd always felt empty after.

Perhaps other kids his age wouldn't agree, but he just ended up being horribly depressed most of the time. Before certain revelations came about, the idea of thinking about Wally while he touched himself was just _wrong_ , especially when he thought his best friend was completely straight. He also rarely found himself legitimately attracted to others.

That was when he had alone time at all. Generally if he wasn't at school or on missions he was training or doing homework or attending Wayne Enterprises' functions. Now that he and Wally were together though, and he was alone, he didn't see any harm in it...

So he brought those most recent recollections to the forefront of his brain, like the sensation of Wally's lips on his neck...or his fingers inside of him, stroking and thrusting, drawing sounds from him he didn't even know he was capable of making before last night.

Dick slid the fingers that weren't already touching him down the front of his boxers.

"Mmm..." He moaned loudly as he palmed his now painfully hard cock, arching into his own hand as he began to stroke it, clamping the other hand over his mouth before remembering that he was by himself and had nothing to worry about.

He imagined it was Wally touching him, causing the younger boy to squirm slightly, toes curling up against the mattress as he quickened his movements. It felt _really_ good, especially with the thoughts of yesterday still tingling through him.

That was when he realized with a start that he was _jerking off_ _in_ _Wally's_ _bed_.

Faltering for a moment and catching his breath, Dick felt his already flushed cheeks burn with mortification, wondering what the hell he was _thinking_. He may have been alone but it wasn't his house or his room, it was his boyfriend's.

His incredibly attractive and (apparently) talented boyfriend who he'd had sex with last night.

So... was it really such a big deal?

Another ache of desire made its way through his body and he gritted his teeth, _to hell with it!_

Deciding he was willing to face any of the potential consequences, he curled his fingers around his leaking cock and began pumping slowly. "Nnnngh, ahhhh..." He whimpered in pleasure as he fondled himself, tipping his head back, lips parting, and moaned as he sped up the pace of his strokes, quickly becoming desperate for his release.

Trying to get a bit more room to move, he used one hand to shove his underwear down around his knees, freeing enough space so he could now use _both_ hands.

It didn't take very long before his eyes were glazed with lust, hips rocking forward unconsciously, there were sparks of pleasure shooting up his spine, leaving his head swimming and making it _impossible_ to think.

He glided one hand over the taut muscles of his belly, slipping it underneath the sweater and up to his chest, biting at his lower lip as he gently pinched a hardened nipple, gasping quietly as he teased himself, completely oblivious to the world around him.

Well, he was until he felt a sudden weight on his legs, and his hands were being pulled away from his body, making him whine in protest before he remembered that he was supposed to be _alone_ and his eyes snapped open (when had he even closed them?).

"Mind if I take over, Baby?" A husky voice breathed in his ear.

Dick tensed up immediately, his heart rate skyrocketing before he caught a glimpse of messy reddish orange hair and freckled cheeks, which just as quickly calmed him back down. His hands were soon replaced by bigger, rougher ones.

"A-Ahhh!" He couldn't suppress his cry when he felt the older boy's fingers close around his length, swiping up and down expertly. The speedster leaned down to press his lips against his neck, licking away a drop of sweat, "Jesus Christ..." he muttered in a heated voice, "I was _watching_ you, Dick. Are you trying to _kill_ me?"

 _Oh God_ , Wally had been watching him masturbate, in his bed, to the thought and scent of him. At first the acrobat thought he was going to _die_ of humiliation, until he felt Wally's own erection pressing into his thigh and realized that he must have enjoyed the little show if it made him react like _this_.

Who knew his first ever boyfriend would also end up being some kind of voyeur?

The raven-haired boy pushed away all thought and let out a small whimper as he bucked into the touch, reaching up with his now useless hands to run them through the speedster's hair, squeezing his eyes shut as the older teen practically ripped down the zipper of the sweater and began kissing all over his chest, leaving Dick to whine at every soft bite, suck and lick to his flushed skin, squirming.

When Wally's wet tongue suddenly ran over his nipples, he gave a stuttered gasp and gripped the Metahuman's hair tightly, arching his torso up and letting loose a frustrated groan when the redhead stopped stroking him in order to suddenly grab both of the young teen's wrists, pulling the slim fingers out of his hair, and with one hand lifted them up high, holding them above his head and against the mattress.

" _Bad boy..._ " He muttered before catching the ninja's jaw with his free hand, leaning down to press their mouths together in an urgent and feverish kiss. "Need to _punish_ you." Wally jerked his hips down sharply, and the raven-haired boy cried out at the friction that it caused.

 _Fuck_. Dick _clearly_ wasn't the only one in the mood at this point.

He was unable to even _consider_ protesting (not that he would have) when the fifteen-year-old's tongue traced his slightly parted lips before thrusting inside, and the denim fabric of Wally's jeans brushed torturously against his aching length.

" _Mmmph!_ " A muffled noise left Dick as he writhed helplessly on the bed. He kissed the redhead back with everything he had, lifting his hips slightly to rub himself against the older boy, moaning as he did so. "Wally," he panted when they pulled away to catch their breath. " _Please..._ "

The redhead grinned deviously, intertwining his fingers with Dick's and moving so he was straddling his knees, pinning the younger teen's wrists on either side of his head while ensuring he couldn't move his legs at all, thwarting any chance the brunette had of getting some much needed friction.

Dick frowned in confusion, wriggling under the speedster. His eyes widened in realization when he tried to arch up, and his boyfriend's bigger form held him down with ease.

"W-What are you doing?" He asked, squeaking in surprise when the fifteen-year-old dragged the tip of his nose along the ninja's slender throat, running his tongue over his Adam's apple, and grinning as he nuzzled his face into the raven-haired boy's neck.

Of course, Dick _could_ have broken out of the hold if he really _wanted_ to. But he didn't. The younger teen was confused by the other's actions and, though he'd likely never admit it, he was also pretty turned on by the redhead's unexpected display of dominance.

Logically, he knew being restricted by someone both bigger and slightly stronger than him should have been frightening, and in any other situation it definitely _would_ have been, but his trust in the boy on top of him was so absolute that he was mostly just curious to see where the redhead was going with this.

"...You look so _hot_ under me, Rob." Wally purred seductively, bending his neck to give a tantalizing lick to the shell of the brunette's ear, eliciting a shudder of delight from him, his breath quickening. The speedster kissed a trail down diagonally from his ear, pressing his lips to the side of his throat, right over his carotid artery.

Dick gasped when the older teen suddenly bit down and sucked at his pulse point, the sensations it caused made him wriggle and mewl, sweat gleaming on his blushing face and heaving chest as the throbbing between his legs became nearly _unbearable_.

 _God_ , he needed Wally so much, wanted him to just hurry up and _touch him_ already, because the teasing had left him aching all over with desire.

He wasn't sure how much he could _take_.

There was warm breath ghosting over his ear, lips brushing ever so gently, making goosebumps appear in their wake. "Do you have any _idea_ what you _do_ to me?"

"N-No..." The raven-haired boy swallowed, eyes fluttering shut as his skin was kissed in a teasing manner, suppressing a whimper when Wally's body was suddenly moulded to his smaller form, feeling the older boy's hard, denim-covered erection pressed against his own. "Why don't you.. _Nnnnnn_ , tell me?"

Wally smirked as he slowly rubbed his body over Dick's, watching his face flush deeper with arousal. The boy kept shifting and tugging at his hands before giving up with an impatient huff.

Deciding to take it up a notch, he brought his mouth back to the side of the brunette's head, whispering in his ear, "You get me so worked up, Dick, I want to tease you until you start _begging_ me to stop," he gave a gentle nip, making the boy's breath catch, "But I _wouldn't_ , not until you were a helpless, shaking mess underneath me. Then, after that, I'd fuck you so _good_ that even a week later you'd _still_ feel me inside of you when you walk. You'd like it that way, wouldn't you? Rough and hot and _dirty_."

The younger teen was gasping and moaning like crazy as the redhead shoved a knee up between his legs, pressing sharply against his cock as he peppered the acrobat's neck with licks and kisses, driving him to the brink of insanity with lust.

He couldn't believe those words came from Kid Mouth himself. That the speedster who always had an unlimited supply of cheesy pickup lines for anything in a skirt could be so...maddeningly sexual was a bit of a shock. What was even more difficult to believe was that the ninja actually seemed to be getting _harder_ from the whispers in his ear.

Considering they'd only had sex once, the idea of being held down and _fucked_ , as the redhead so eloquently put it, shouldn't have been appealing, but he couldn't deny the reaction his body was having to the idea nonetheless.

"I'm going to let you go now," Wally murmured, his dark green eyes raking over Dick's body in a way that made him want to blush even more, "But I want you to lay there and be _good_ for me. Understand?"

Unable to help himself, Dick cocked an eyebrow at the older teen, challengingly, "And if I'm _not?_ " The redhead's expression turned sinister, and the brunette yelped when he suddenly flicked one of his hard nipples, "Then I'll just have to put you over my knee and _spank you_ , of course."

The boy closed his eyes at that mental image, swallowing hard, "Noted."

Wally then gave Dick's hands a warning squeeze before releasing them. He shuffled down the acrobat's body, so he was balanced on the lithe form beneath his own, eye level with the brunette's manhood.

Anticipation unfurled in the Metahuman's stomach.

He wasn't normally one for bragging about his abilities in bed, but this was a field that the redhead liked to think he was particularly skilled in. He'd certainly never gotten any _complaints_ before, but the credit for that really belonged to the second guy he'd ever hooked up with. After all, everyone had to learn _somewhere_.

The speedster first started messing around with his classmates when he was twelve - which was admittedly pretty messed up, but after what happened in the fifth grade he had been desperately trying to understand what had happened to him and why, which the internet and library certainly helped with, but even as he was dealing with the trauma afterwards, he was... _curious_.

It started with sneaking over to Jessica Lynch's house for make out sessions while her grandmother was asleep and before he knew it, he was spending the summer attending "sex parties" with the seventh and eighth graders from his school, playing Spin The Bottle and Seven Minutes In Heaven.

Even knowing that he wasn't exactly _straight_ , Wally had been reluctant to do anything with a guy at first, for obvious reasons. The second biggest reservation that he had was that he didn't want to be judged. As if being a gawky, ginger-haired science geek in a public middle school wasn't bad enough, the last thing he'd wanted was for the kids to start calling him a "fag". When he'd eventually given in to another boy's flirting just after starting the sixth grade (about four months before his thirteenth birthday), he didn't see that what he was doing was dangerous until _after_ he'd let a boy at least four years older than he was fuck him in the basement of some loser's house.

It had been uncomfortable and embarrassing, and the redhead had started crying from the pain as soon as he was by himself, hiding away in a closet. The first guy had been a bastard, yet he'd still gone out and done it again. Fortunately they weren't all like Kyle. Even so, he regretted most (if not _every_ ) decision he'd made during that time.

A part of him wanted to blame his parents for not giving a shit where he was or what he was doing, and letting him stay out until one o'clock on school nights, but he knew that wasn't fair. They were still mostly in denial about Leanne's death - his mother had been clinically depressed while his father was constantly in and out of AA.

They just didn't have the energy to deal with his horrible coping methods.

It took waking up on the floor of a sort-of-friend's bathroom after getting drugged by some asshole seniors for Wally to realize he needed to _stop_. It had been during the March break of seventh grade, and that was when he learned that there was no hangover quite like a roofie hangover, and the redhead was _really_ lucky that Tori had seen him starting to lose it and threatened to call the cops on those creeps. With the way things were going before he was even a high school freshman, the then-human figured it would only be a matter of time before he knocked someone up, caught a hideous disease, ended up dead, or _worse_. None of them had been using protection, that was for damn sure, they were stupid kids who had _no business_ messing around the way they had been.

Wally was especially harsh on himself for those mistakes in particular, because he had _known_ better - he just hadn't _cared_. But he eventually started to. Eighth grade was a really bad time for him, his self esteem had plummeted and he was disgusted by everything he'd done the year before. Maybe that was why he was so close to ending it once and for all the day he found out Uncle Barry's secret. He wanted so badly to feel good about himself again and help people like his sister before it was too late that he wouldn't take no for an answer. After becoming Kid Flash he didn't have sex again until his fifteenth birthday.

He has been seeing a girl, Linda, casually for about six months. She was his age, the editor of the school newspaper, an aspiring journalist, and drop dead gorgeous. But because he didn't want to give away his secret by accident he'd taken the time to learn how to control the whole vibrating thing before going very far. It had actually been worth the wait, too.

Their sort-of-relationship ended in June after dating for a year and one month, because she was planning on going away for the summer. In her words, they'd had a good run but it was probably best for them to part as friends before starting the tenth grade.

Even though he'd cared about her, they were never really a _serious_ couple. It was dating for the sake of dating - because everyone said they'd be cute together. He'd had a great time with her, but he also hadn't been sad that they broke up. Hence him telling Dick that he was the first person the redhead had been with that he actually had strong romantic feelings for.

The speedster had never had sex with someone in which he was the _more_ experienced person, and his own history left him determined to make sure he treated Robin properly.

Nothing was proper about what they were doing right now, though, but Dick had yet to protest Wally's bossy behaviour.

Without stalling any further (though he'd really only been lost in thought for about two and a half seconds), the older boy leaned forward and licked at the tip of the acrobat's swollen length.

The brunette's eyes snapped open in shock, a startled noise tearing from his throat, and he began to push himself up into a sitting position, "Wally?"

Ignoring the questioning gaze being directed at him, the redhead braced his hands against the ninja's hips and leaned down even more, letting his tongue glide over the head of the boy's weeping erection, listening to the sharp intake of breath, and dragged it down to his shaft before taking the young teen's cock into his mouth.

"Oh!" Dick let out a choked groan, fisting his hands in the bedsheets beside him, eyelids fluttering as he stared down at the older boy with desire and confusion. "...Wh-What are you _doing?_ "

He chuckled, making the brunette hiss, and pulled off for a moment, wrapping his fingers around the base of his cock, he began stroking idly, "My mouth _is_ good for more than just talking, you know." He teased, before slowly taking the Boy Wonder's length back into his throat.

As soon as the redhead started to suck, Dick's arms gave out and he fell back onto the mattress. He'd never felt _anything_ like it, everything was so warm and wet and _intense_ , and his pelvis lifted up involuntarily, trying desperately to get more of that velvet-like sensation. " _Wally!_ "

The Metahuman simply tightened his grip on the other boy's hips, ignoring the frustrated whimper Dick released when he pulled away, and licked a flat line from the tip of his cock to the base of the shaft, watching the deep shudder run through the younger teen, and then repeated it.

With Wally's considerable experience in this field, it wasn't long before he had Dick at his absolute mercy.

" _P-Please_ , Wally... Ahh! I-I... _Nnnngh_... I _can't_ -" By now, the raven-haired boy was a trembling wreck on the bed, nails digging into the palms of his hands as he _begged_ the speedster to just _stop_ teasing him. He was stuttering out half-coherent sentences, face shining with sweat, black bangs plastered to his face, his eyes clouded with lust. "Just, oh _God_..."

The redhead had been gripping his own cock tightly just to keep from climaxing, wanting to focus on driving his new boyfriend wild. Backing off just long enough to take a deep breath, he decided to show pity to the younger teen.

"Okay, Rob, I've got you." He rubbed Dick's thigh soothingly before pulling his hot, leaking member back into his mouth, swallowing it as far down as he could, taking advantage of his near absence of a gag reflex, and closed his eyes. He focused as much as he could with a raging hard on, and began vibrating his throat.

Dick's reaction was so much better than anything out of some cheap porno.

The raven-haired teen's entire body spasmed and shook violently as he let out a series of long, sobbing moans, tears stinging his eyes. Waves of pure, unadulterated pleasure surged through him, hurling him into a blissful oblivion.

Hungrily swallowing down every last drop of fluid the younger boy spilled into his mouth, Wally didn't stop milking his orgasm until Dick whined helplessly from oversensitivity, and the redhead released his softening cock, sitting back with a rather pleased expression as the brunette panted for air, desperately trying to refill his lungs.

Crawling up the length of the boy's still lightly quivering body and laying down beside him, he met those dark blue eyes and brushed his nose against Dick's in an Eskimo kiss that would surely get him teased later, and whispered, "Hey."

"Hi," Dick weakly replied, he cheeks still stained pink with embarrassment, but he was _very_ relaxed-looking. "What was that about?"

"It's called a blowjob."

The ninja whacked him on the arm, his eyes narrowing when the speedster snickered in response. "I _know_ that. I just mean - why did you...? How did you learn to do _that?_ "

Wally raised an eyebrow at him, wondering if orgasms caused a loss of IQ points.

Flushing and looking exasperated, Dick huffed, "You know what I meant."

He did, but that didn't mean he wanted to discuss it.

"Yeah, and if you _really_ want I can tell you all of the intricately sleazy details about my past hookups, or we can do something actually worth our time." It wasn't just because he was still incredibly horny that he said that. One day, he would tell the younger teen about his middle school stupidity and everything it entailed. But not _today_.

The brunette frowned, "Like?"

Wally smirked and rolled them over suddenly so he was hanging above the brunette, and leaned down to kiss the spot behind his ear, tracing the shell with his tongue, "Horizontal hugging," he said seriously, before giggling at the ridiculous statement. "Dick, I want to kiss _every_ _inch of your body._ "

Gulping at the predatory look that suddenly appeared on the redhead's face, he smiled coquettishly up at the older boy, "Alright then, give me your _best_."

...and he did just that.

Then they made blueberry pancakes for breakfast afterwards.

* * *

Dick awoke to the scent of warm chocolate.

He yawned and rolled over onto his back, stretching out, and feeling a pleasant ache go through his body as he did so. When it suddenly occurred to him _why_ he felt the way he did, a smile lit up his face.

Looking down at himself, it was pretty obvious what he'd been up to.

Dozens of hickeys littered his torso. At first he'd been very adamant about no more marks on his neck, before it occurred to him that with the cooler weather they'd been having, turtlenecks would be a perfect cover, in addition to the makeup he already used to conceal Robin's bruises at school. Now, some very interesting purplish markings were scattered down his neck. They were nothing compared to the even more colourful fingerprint shaped bruises on his thighs and hips though. Even his lips felt a little kiss swollen still.

A shiver ran through the young boy as memories of the last two days flooded his brain. It seemed like after their first time on Friday evening, he and Wally had a difficult time keeping their hands off of each other.

Sex was a million times better than he ever could have imagined, but it left him exhausted and hungry. The brunette supposed he needed time to build up endurance for it, like any other form of exercise.

Good thing Wally was all too willing to help him out with that.

Which, speaking of, what was the redhead doing this time anyways? A quick check at the clock told him it was way too early for any sane person to be up.

Maybe he was getting a snack...

Dick _had_ caught the smell of something good a few minutes ago.

Internally debating the pros and cons of just curling up and going back to sleep, Dick sighed and eventually began blindly pulling his clothes - which had been tossed carelessly to the floor just a few hours ago - on and headed downstairs.

The last two days with the speedster had been nothing short of blissful, but they both knew he had to leave tomorrow (er, well, technically later today), because Monday would soon be upon them, and Bruce might have been cool, but no parent was _that_ cool. The brunette figured they might as well enjoy the next couple of hours before they went back to pretending they were just best friends in front of the team and their families.

He found Wally sitting at his kitchen table, nursing a large mug of... _something_ sweet, Dick couldn't tell due to all the different scents coming from the wafting steam.

"Why aren't you asleep?" The redhead questioned before he had a chance to make himself known. He'd probably heard the younger boy on the stairs. "I doubt Bruce lets you sleep in very much."

Pulling out a chair to sit down next to him, the ninja cocked his head to the side, "I could ask the same thing. When I woke up, you were gone." He tried not to sound put out, resting his head against the speedster's shoulder, being close to him while he still could.

Oddly enough, Wally didn't even smile at his gesture, his gaze was fixed on something across the kitchen; a calendar. The current date had been circled with a black sharpie. Well, that told him there was a specific reason why Wally wasn't in bed still - something was bothering him and he _couldn't_ sleep.

Dick tried to think back to why this particular day might be upsetting or troublesome to Wally, but he came up blank. His birthday wasn't for a few more months (and the redhead was usually excited about it), he'd never known any of his grandparents, he had only one aunt and uncle, and had no cousins that the brunette was aware of, so the death of an immediate family member was out-

 _Wait._

Something that had been bothering the acrobat which he had yet to ask about came to mind. The big sparkly flower sticker on the door upstairs. It wasn't to the bathroom, he knew that for sure due to their escapade in the shower yesterday afternoon, but it wouldn't have been right to snoop, so he'd just ignored it.

It would explain Wally's reluctance to talk about his home and family life in front of the team, the girly sticker... even the obvious age gap in family photos on his mantle. He was really hoping he was wrong, though.

Putting a hand on the older boy's arm, trying his best not to let the concern and curiosity show, he asked, "What day is today, Wally?"

The redhead was silent, and for a while Dick thought he wouldn't answer - but eventually he breathed out a pained sigh, "It's her birthday. I have it circled so I don't forget, but even though I kept busy, it still woke me up..."

"What was her name?" He questioned gently, not pushing, but giving the speedster an opening to talk if he so chose. The pieces were putting themselves together, and he was pretty sure he knew who this was about. Only a certain number of people would have had their own bedroom at the Wests' house, after all.

"Leanne Rose." Wally's voice was a whisper when he spoke, "She...she would have been twelve today."

He wasn't wrong...

"Do you want to talk about her?"

The elder teen shook his head at that, "No, I...uh, I'll probably go to her room later. I'm not supposed to, but I found where Mom hid the key years ago, so I talk to her when...when I miss her." He put his head down on the table, resting his chin on his arm. "I don't really believe in the afterlife, you know? So I struggled after meeting Kent Nelson and Dr. Fate, and knowing that Lee-Lee was _somewhere_ but she couldn't...answer me." His breathing hitched and the tears started coming - the exact reason why he didn't talk about her at times even though he really wanted to.

He turned to Dick and saw the younger boy staring at him with sorrow. And compassion. It was comforting having him there, for many reasons. Mostly, because he _understood_.

"You were my first real friend, you know?" The raven-haired boy looked surprised. "I was a loner as a toddler, and when Leanne came along I didn't _need_ anyone else, I had her to play with. After...after the accident, I was only eight, so I had the opportunity to make some friends, but I went out of my way _not_ to." He smiled at his own stubbornness, but his lips trembled with the effort keeping it in place took. "Not 'cause I didn't want to replace her - that wasn't _possible_ \- but..."

Realization sparkled in Dick's now misty blue eyes, "You were afraid," he guessed, correctly at that. It was something he could relate to. "You didn't want to lose anyone else." The boy had done the math in his head. Wally was eight when his sister passed away, which was seven and some months ago, if she would have been a preteen today then that meant she would have been about... _four_.

Wally nodded, guilt gnawing at his insides. Not only that, but he didn't want to accidentally be responsible for the death of another person he loved, which just made it harder knowing that Robin had been kidnapped and tortured and nearly _raped_ because he followed him to that stupid hotel.

Beside him, the younger boy shifted, moving even closer to the redhead, hoping the contact could provide some sort of comfort. He took a deep breath, "When Bruce first took me in as a foster son, I tried to hate him." Now it was Wally's turn to look stunned. "Don't get me wrong, I was - and still _am_ \- endlessly grateful for the life he's given me. If it weren't for him I never would have met Alfred, Leslie, the team... I never would have become Robin and fallen in love with you."

They exchanged small smiles.

"I'd probably be rotting in Gotham Juvenile Detention Center or God knows where if it weren't for him. So, I _knew_ he wasn't trying to replace my family, he did what he did out of empathy, because of our similar pasts... but I was still so angry at first. I didn't really understand why I was lashing out at the man who'd saved me from the system, until it sort of hit me one day. Bruce reminded me of my father; kind, strong, a bit too stoic - and I was terrified when the adoption finally went through. Not that I'd mentally replace him - it was never a matter of not having enough love for him and them at once. It was never even about thinking I'd forget about them, but I was scared of getting close to him _because_ I couldn't stand the thought of losing another parent."

Wally watched as Dick wiped the back of his hand over his eyes, "It took a lot of therapy for the doctor to convince me that my reaction of subconsciously trying to _hate_ the guy who'd pretty much saved my life wasn't unusual. She said it was because of trauma. I sometimes still get feelings like that - that if I push people away now it'll hurt less when they're gone, but talking about it helps." He squeezed his boyfriend's hand.

The speedster took a couple of deep breaths, and turned, earthy green eyes meeting bright sky blue, and it reminded him of the Greek stories about Gaea and Ouranus, who - separated only by the Titan Atlas holding the weight of the world on his shoulders - longed to embrace each other as lovers once more. But, unlike the earth and sky, Wally wouldn't let _anything_ keep him and Dick apart, the young acrobat was what stopped him from falling to pieces.

"Her death was my fault. Wait. Just listen-" he held up a finger when the brunette opened his mouth to protest. "-I was supposed to be watching her while we were playing outside. Leanne had a tendency to get distracted and run off, she didn't understand the _danger..._ "

He shook his head and sighed, "She loved animals, absolutely adored them, and would throw tantrums if anyone so much as stepped on a spider. Her favourite place in the world was the Montebellum Family Farm just outside of town, she would spend hours just watching and petting the therapy horses." He didn't notice Dick's questioning look when he heard that.

"She knew we couldn't get her a horse, so her next best option was a dog. Mom and Dad were planning to buy her one when she turned five. One day, while we were walking, I stopped to talk to our next door neighbour's kid, Joey. I only took my eyes off of Lee Lee for like thirty seconds, and when I turned she was in the middle of the street..." He closed his eyes, trying to will away the horrific images playing back in his mind. "She'd seen the Golden Retriever puppy belonging to the couple across the street tied up on their front lawn. I started running for her, I yelled at Leanne to get off the road, but she couldn't hear me... No one saw the truck turning the corner until it was too late."

Before he knew it, the tears were falling again, "I-I can still hear the sound of it hitting her. Joey's cousin called 911 on his cell. The hospital is just a few blocks away from here, it didn't even take them three minutes to arrive, but that didn't matter." Wally swallowed down the lump in his throat, "They said she died the instant it impacted her, because of a head injury. She didn't... _feel_ any of it, but I still wake up clawing at my own ears sometimes, trying to get the sound out of my head."

Dick was leaning over then, pulling the redhead into a fiercely tight hug. Whether it was to comfort Wally or himself, he wasn't entirely sure. It went unsaid that he understood perfectly how nightmarish one's memories could be. To this day, the sound of bones breaking still made him panic, because of the echo of his family's bodies when they hit the ground beneath the trapeze.

He wasn't sure something like that was possible to forget.

"I'm so sorry, Wally." He whispered in the speedster's ear, "But it _isn't_ your fault. For the longest time I blamed myself for not calling the cops the moment I heard Zucco and his thugs threaten Jack Haly. Yes, you _were_ in charge of your sister, but it's _not_ your fault that she ran onto the road, and it's _not_ your fault that no one noticed the truck. You can't hold onto your guilt like this, it'll eat away at your soul. If you ever need to talk... I'm available, no matter what." He promised fervently.

The younger boy wasn't sure how much of it sunk in, but it didn't matter because the way Wally suddenly clutched him close like a security blanket told him that he got what Dick was trying to do. He knew they would comfort each other when they needed someone who understood.

Nothing in that moment, not even the Joker or Captain Cold themselves, would have made either of the boys part from one another.

After all, if you finally had your arms wrapped around the one person who knew you - inside and out - better than anyone else ever had or ever would, could you really bring yourself to let them go?

* * *

 **Sorry for the mood whiplash in this chapter (not really), but I hope you enjoyed it anyways. Make sure to tell me your thoughts on this story so far - it really keeps me motivated.**

 **Have a belatedly happy Halloween!**


	20. Frenzy

**All My Friends Are Superheroes**

 **Summary** : Being a teenaged hero is no walk in the park; juggling school, homework, superpowers, friends and family can be tough, especially when you and your secret boyfriend are tiptoeing around teammates, parents and mentors. However, sometimes in life you have to just stop worrying, and let the stones fall where they may. It might not be that bad, after all. Season 1. AU/OOC. Birdflash.

 **Point Of View** : Third person's POV, set in past tense/story format, with dreams/thoughts italicized. The focus will mainly be on Robin and Kid Flash, of course, but I fully plan to further explore their interactions with the team, and also with their JLA mentors. Story starts after the team has been established, right after the end of their first official mission together.

* * *

 _"Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind; and therefore is winged Cupid painted blind. Nor hath love's mind of any judgment taste; wings, and no eyes, figure unheedy haste. And therefore is love said to be a child, because in choice he is so oft beguiled." - William Shakespeare_

* * *

There was absolutely nothing "magical" about being in love.

Wally was all too aware of that.

Really, there were numerous studies out there on the subject, as well as a scientific basis for each and every human emotion. The symptoms of love in particular could easily be explained away by the production of certain compounds in the brain, called neurochemicals. They were called Phenylethylamine, Norepinephrine, Dopamine, Oxytocin and Serotonin, and lust was the result of Adrenaline, Estrogen, Testosterone, etc.

Being a man of academics he _knew_ this, and could describe in vivid detail the complex functions of how the brain (specifically the portion known as the prefrontal cortex) ultimately controlled your emotions and determined your personality. It wasn't the 15th century - he knew the heart was just a muscular pump and had nothing to do with any of it.

But then, as he watched Robin practicing his unique mix of martial arts and gymnastics with a grace that would put any prima ballerina to shame, a look of sheer concentration dominating his expression, the redhead's heartbeat seemed to quicken, and all he could think was: _Man, there is no way that's just science._

Ever since his injuries had all but finished healing, the young boy had been determined to further improve his skills, to become an even better fighter than he already was. The reason was likely because he didn't want to be in a position where he ended up vulnerable again.

Wally understood that, and had even agreed to train alongside him. Superboy had gone to see Batman about something important (he wouldn't say what) and the others were...around, so they were all alone at the moment. Which was just fine by him. Anything to avoid going home early - his parents had been bickering nonstop ever since they had gotten back from Ohio.

 _Couldn't they have stayed away just a little longer?_

He grimaced as he slammed his fist into his own punching bag with a tiny bit too much force, causing it to break off of the stand mounted to the floor. The speedster blinked as he snapped out of it, blinking in surprise. He normally had more control over his temper than that.

Robin suddenly appeared right next to him, looking decidedly bemused.

Just being in close proximity to him seemed to help calm the older teen down substantially. "Are you alright, KF?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, I was just thinking, that's all."

 _No need to drag you into this mess, Dick_ , he thought. The Boy Wonder wrapped his arms around Wally's waist, "Uh-oh... Should I be worried?" He asked in a teasing tone. "No, but really, it's hard to take your aggression out on a target that won't even fight back. How about you and I spar?"

Wally stepped back at that, "So not happening. You'll just kick my butt - like always." True, the speedster had never gone all out in a fight before - he knew from his talks with the Flash how bad that could turn out. But he still felt no desire to train against his boyfriend.

His Uncle Barry had been teaching him more about channelling kinetic energy lately, and while he still wasn't able to move through solid objects, he _was_ getting faster and more powerful over time, that much was clear. Plus, last week he'd accidentally blown up a door by destabilizing _its_ molecules. Causing explosions was cool and all, but not so helpful in a team that required sneaking around and gathering information, so he'd kept that tidbit from the others. Besides, they'd probably just make fun of him, considering he tended to bleed when he tried to vibrate his molecules.

Wally was sure one day he'd be able to learn intangibility.

But the biggest reason why he didn't want to practice with the others (aside from Conner) was because his lightning fast punches had put a guy in a _coma_ and given him a serious brain injury, and even if he'd kind of deserved it the fact that Wally had gotten angry enough to ignore everything his mentor had taught him and cause _that_ _much_ damage was terrifying. Since he obviously didn't think too clearly when it came to Robin, the best thing to do was not practice with him.

He just hoped neither of them ever got brainwashed or something.

The apprentice of the Flash and Batman fighting each other could not possibly accomplish anything _good_.

Robin frowned up at the older boy in confusion, and seemed like he was about ready to speak again, when they heard footsteps, causing the brunette to quickly let go and back away.

It was Zatara, Aqualad, and...Captain Marvel, for some reason.

Quickly plastering a smile on his face, the acrobat waved to them, "Hey, Kaldur! You up for a friendly training match?" Their Atlantean friend agreed and went to face off against Ronin.

Kid Flash sighed softly, distractedly combing his fingers through his hair a few times, debating whether or not to go for a run around the mountain to distract himself for a bit. Eventually, he decided to go see if M'gann had any luck with that new recipe of hers.

Truthfully, he just wanted the week to be over with.

* * *

Well, this was it, his first official team mission back on the team.

Robin hadn't been on an actual assignment from Batman since he'd recovered enough to have his cast taken off. Now he stood in front of the mirror in his room on the Mountain, twisting back and forth to examine himself.

A sudden breeze indicated the presence of his partner.

"Hey, Wally," The thirteen-year-old greeted, a little uncertainly. He stared at himself in the mirror, a frown turning down the corners of his mouth, adjusting his cape self-consciously. "So... how do I look?"

There was a hint of worry tainting his otherwise cheery tone.

He didn't feel like the same Robin he'd been a month ago, and if he could see it - what if the bad guys did too? People had started to notice his short absence from the streets of Gotham already.

Eager though he might have been to get back to crime fighting alongside Batman, what if he just wasn't ready? What if something happened and he lost focus and jeopardized the team?

Robin couldn't bear the thought of them getting hurt, _especially_ not because of him.

His first panic attack had happened roughly a week and a half after his rescue, and he'd felt so low and pathetic afterwards that Bruce couldn't even snap him out of it, and Alfred had ended up calling Wally to run over and talk him through the symptoms. He had held Dick for two hours straight, trying to assure him that he wouldn't let him end up in some sort of PTSD-addled state.

The speedster was _not_ going to let his boyfriend slip into the same depressed, self-destructive cycle he'd gone through when he was twelve. Robin _would_ have the support he needed to get through this.

But it didn't mean that the younger boy wasn't worried about it happening again.

On the chance that it did, while he was on a mission... well, he didn't like to think about what that could lead to.

Kid Flash frowned slightly at the question, and then put a hand lightly on his boyfriend's shoulder and turned the brunette to face him, "C'mere, let me see you..." He held the self-conscious acrobat at arms length, examining him closely, taking in each feature.

Truth be told, Robin was just as beautiful to him as always.

A shock of deep black hair stood out starkly against his milky pale complexion, bangs falling messily into his masked eyes as usual. The bruises were all faded away at this point, and while he didn't _physically_ seem any different than before, to the boy's best friend, it was obvious that _something_ had changed inside of him. He knew that under the domino mask Robin's eyes were circled with dark shadows from nightmares, and that the reason he wasn't quite as chatty as usual was because he had been woken up by his guardian three evenings in a row due to screaming out in his sleep, and his throat was probably a little sore.

It wasn't attractiveness that the teen worried about, though. Wally had made sure that the boy knew he was completely perfect in that department. No, what was upsetting him was that his ordeal with Pyotr and Anya had severely damaged his self-esteem, and his confidence in his own abilities. He was working on it, but the speedster couldn't be sure how much progress they were making until they put it to the test.

His new uniform looked largely the same as the last one, with a few little improvements...

The red Kevlar tunic-vest's black sleeves were longer now, extending down to his wrists, and it had a turtleneck, for the cooler weather that was coming up, plus it was of course insulated and bulletproof, his black tights with the slight greenish sheen had been replaced with nearly identical thermal ones, except that these had red stripes going from his hip to his ankle in addition to the red patches that the old ones had possessed.

Wally noticed, despite how unsure he seemed at the moment, that the brunette still appeared to stand a little taller while wearing his uniform. Like it made him feel less exposed.

He understood that, too.

"You look great," he encouraged truthfully, giving his shoulder a gentle squeeze. "Better than ever. Like a real hero." The redhead skimmed his fingers down the black and pale yellow cape that he knew Robin adored, even if it annoyed him at times. "High-density polymerized titanium? Nice."

Robin blinked, eyes widening behind his mask, "How did you-"

"Lucky guess."

It wasn't lucky at all. Wally knew all about the changes in design made to Robin's new uniform because they were _his_ ideas.

As soon as Dick had told him about his fears of getting assaulted again, he'd gone _straight_ to Batman. Of course, he would never betray his boyfriend's trust by telling his mentor something shared with him in confidence, not unless he thought it was an absolutely necessary life-or-death situation.

Instead of telling the man directly, he'd merely made some small off-hand suggestions to the Dark Knight about how to improve his new costume and allow Robin to feel safer while in the field.

Other ideas that had been offered to (and accepted by) Batman included razor blades built into the soles of Robin's steel-toed boots in case his gloves and belt were taken and he needed to pick locks or cut ropes, some extra rubber lining in the vest to make it more shock absorbent (he'd like to see those creeps try to taze him _now_ ), a heart monitor built into the iconic R emblem on the side of his chest that would send a distress signal through his holographic wrist computer (whether he was wearing it at the time or not) to wherever Batman happened to be at the time if he lost consciousness all of a sudden or tapped it twice quickly, a sort of trade off since the ninja didn't need the stealth tech the others had in order to disappear and blend in.

Batman seemed to appreciate his (unasked for) help, especially the one about having Robin's utilty belt deliver a powerful electric shock if anyone who wasn't supposed to be touching it tried to remove it. The Caped Crusader had his own safety mechanisms installed in his belt _and_ cowl, so why shouldn't the Boy Wonder? He kept his most important gadgets in it, after all, just like his mentor.

Now, Wally had no plans of telling Dick that these additions were made because of his slight interference. He didn't want the younger boy to think he didn't believe in him or his ability to defend himself (he absolutely did, getting captured before was not his fault), but he wanted to be able to help the brunette aside from just comforting him when he had concerns.

It seemed to be working though, Robin's expression had relaxed, and he looked a bit more confident and ready for a fight than the redhead had seen in the past few weeks, which assured him that he'd done the right thing.

"Thanks Wally," the brunette said softly, "I really appreciate all that you've done for me lately. From saving me in Malibu to...well, everything else."

In response, the Metahuman took a quick look around before pulling the younger teen into a short, sweet kiss, and smiled down at him, "Anytime, Rob. Now let's get going - it's time to kick some Injustice League butt."

* * *

When they got to the hangar, Robin stopped suddenly.

"Hey, wait a minute," He frowned as he looked at their team, "Wasn't the new girl supposed to be joining us on our next mission?"

Artemis strolled passed him and onto the Bio-Ship, "Change of plans. Soothsayer and Black Canary are going to be helping out Green and Red Arrow today." He thought he heard a hint of annoyance in her tone, but when he glanced over at KF, the redhead shook his head and mouthed, _"jealous."_

Oh.

Yeah, probably best to pretend they didn't notice that.

No one really knew what was going on with Roy - he hung around the cave a lot more, but he had yet to officially say if he wanted to join their team or not. The brunette got a feeling that he wanted to prove he could make it on his own, but at the same time that the whole ordeal at Black Orchid had made its mark on the archer just as much as it had with the him and Wally.

Well, whether he decided to stick with them or not, Artemis needed to find her own place on the team. He got being worried about your position, but just because Roy and Oliver already had history, it didn't mean she wasn't one of them, but that was something she needed to realize for herself, telling her otherwise right now would really only succeed in making her defensive.

Internally prepping himself for his first real mission back on the team, he bordered the Bio-Ship, trying to fight down the sense of dread in the pit of his stomach.

* * *

Getting blasted out of the sky and into a marsh was _so_ not fun.

It was definitely not how Wally typically spent his Friday nights, that was for sure. He shook off the slight nausea from the fall, and quickly got out of his seat, just in time to see the hideous plant tentacles climbing up the sides of the Bio-Ship.

"Oh, man," the redhead muttered, "This is just like the beginning of a bad hentai."

The others ignored him or were just confused, with the exception of Artemis, who gave him a disgusted look.

Just then, Black Adam tore a whole in the roof of the aircraft's organic material, attempting to get at them, and Miss Martian clutched her head in pain. "Agh, he's hurting her!"

Superboy sprung into action, launching himself upwards, nailing the guy in the jaw.

Water immediately began surging in through the opening.

"No." Artemis declared suddenly, " _No way_ I'm nearly drowning three missions in a row!" She put a rebreather in her mouth and handed one to Kid Flash as Robin dove down deeper into the water.

The speedster blinked in surprise, "Wow. Uh, thanks."

"M'gann, we need to get out - open a hatch!" The clone told her hurriedly, trying to get her to snap out of her daze. Obviously the connection to her ship meant she could feel its pain.

"Hello, Megan!" She face-palmed, before becoming focused, "Of course."

She proceeded to open an escape point at the bottom of the now flooded aircraft, and they swam out quickly.

Climbing out onto a riverbank surrounded by oak, birch and cypress trees, the oxygen dependant beings paused to catch their breath, and Miss Martian leaned against Superboy for support, looking drained, "She's in shock... she'll need time to recover-"

They were suddenly blasted with a sharp, dizzying pain that knocked them all down, followed by a familiar queasy sensation.

Due to his Metahuman abilities, Kid Flash was the first one to recover, groaning and lifting his head. "Vertigo," he growled out angrily, glancing over his shoulder to make sure that Robin and the others were okay.

"That's _Count Vertigo_ to you," the Vlatavan man stated smugly, " _Peasant_."

Superboy snarled and launched himself at the blonde man, only to get a face full of knuckles courtesy of Black Adam. He slammed the clone onto the ground, dazing him temporarily.

Taking the distraction as a chance to get a hit in, Aqualad proceeded to water-blast Vertigo right off of his feet, leaving him coughing and sputtering. Without the villain debilitating them, their leader addresses the team mentally, _"Robin, Miss Martian - disappear! We will keep them busy, fulfill the mission objective."_

Robin hesitated, before taking off into the forest, and the Martian vanished into the ground.

 _Be careful, Wally._

* * *

It was nearly pitch black outside.

While Robin was half tempted to turn on a light, he knew it would only attract unwanted attention (the Injustice League would definitely be looking for them by now), and the last thing he needed was to screw up on his first mission back.

After nearly an hour of silently trekking through the bayou, Miss Martian spoke up, _"I've lost contact with Aqualad and the others. Should we-"_

 _"Sorry, that's not the gig."_ Robin cut her off.

Truth be told, he did want to go back and make sure the others were okay, but Aqualad had told them to go, and they knew what their job was. He looked ahead in the direction his computer's holo-map had told them to, and pushes back some plants, _"This_ _is. The Injustice League central control system. Looks like that plant is acting as an antenna_ _to control the other plants worldwide."_

He was so focused on the globe-shaped building with the massive bunch of wriggling vine _things_ coming out of it that he didn't feel the eyes watching them, or hear anyone approach.

"Well _hello_ ," a lethally seductive voice cooed.

Immediately spinning around and getting into a fighting stance, Robin didn't expect to be snatched of the ground suddenly by several plant tendrils curling around his waist, pinning his arms to his sides, so suddenly that it punched the breath out of him briefly.

Eyes growing wide behind his mask, the brunette boy immediately started struggling, kicking his legs in an attempt to make it loosen its grip, straining to reach his utility belt.

Ultra-Humanite landed beside a smirking Poison Ivy with a grunt, a huge sniper gun in his hands.

 _Oh, God, he's going to shoot us!_

Before he could fire, Miss Martian sucked in a breath, her eyes glowing green, and changed the direction the gun fired at, making it hit the plants restraining them. They let go instantly, and he hit the ground running.

He didn't stop, even when he heard Ivy speaking behind him, "Sorry, Boy Wonder, I'm putting an end to your little...reconnaissance mission."

Leaping for the nearest tree branch he could reach, the acrobat could hear slithering up the trunk behind him, and shuddered in disgust. Her plants were even creepier than snakes. He attempted to jump into another tree, only for a vine to coil around his ankle and yank him to the ground, eliciting a groan of pain when he hit the forest floor.

As soon as he tried to get up, more of the plant tendrils showed up. He reached for a batarang, but one knocked it out of his hand before he could throw it, grabbing both of his arms and roughly binding them behind his back, curling around his legs and torso to keep him from escaping.

 _This is so not asterous!_ He felt the blood rush to his head as they hung him upside down, ignoring his struggles.

Poison Ivy appeated in front of him then, and smiled in that sweet, toxic way she always did, and one of the vines stroked his cheek affectionately. "Oh, Robin, you could have made this so much easier if you had surrendered to me three years ago."

When he was ten years old, she'd infected him with her mind controlling spores, which somehow convinced him he was in love with her. The brunette had been a bit sour towards Ivy ever since then; she had used him to attack his own mentor, after all.

Scowling at the memory, the young boy turned away from the unwanted touch, " _Never_ gonna happen."

"What a pity..." The red-haired woman sighed, "You're such a lovely little blossom, too. Well, suit yourself." She grinned and closed her fist. Suddenly, the plant that had been caressing his face suddenly shot down and wrapped around his throat, squeezing.

Panic immediately seized the teen, and Robin thrashed and squirmed, but the ninja couldn't break the hold. God, it was just as painful the second time around; his face hurt and he felt like his chest was going to explode. Memories of hands around his throat sent fear and dread creeping through him as he writhed, trying to fight the vines as much as he was trying to fight off the flashbacks.

It only got tighter, and he was terrified that he was going to get strangled to death by a _plant_.

His struggling began to weaken.

Dark spots danced across the edges of his vision, and everything went black.

The next thing he knew, Miss Martian's worried face was above him, her voice speaking to him through the painful fuzziness muddling up his brain. _"Robin? Are you okay? Hang on, she's made contact."_

He moaned in discomfort, slowly pushing himself up into a sitting position, his throat was burning. _"Ugh... Who? Artemis?"_

A small smile appeared on her lips, _"No."_

* * *

First, they get battered out of the sky into a marsh where mutant evil plants try to drown them, then they get the crap kicked out of them by Black Adam and wake up in a flying magic gold cage, then they end up taking yet another unscheduled dip.

So far, Kid Flash was not enjoying the first serious mission that Batman assigned to them.

As soon as the speedster realized the team was back together again, he took a half second to survey the battle. Superboy and Wolf had taken on Ultra-Humanity; big surprise, Artemis was fighting Poison Ivy with Aqualad...

Where was Robin, though? He'd seen the younger boy drop out of the Bio-Ship when they fell.

KF didn't get the opportunity to figure that out, because that was when he spotted Count Vertigo.

The redhead really disliked the smarmy elitist jerk and shot towards him unthinkingly.

A whirling sensation overcame Wally, and the next thing he knew, Black Adam was throwing an arm out at him. It felt like getting smacked by a freight train, and the force sent the Metahuman into the mud.

He heard an explosion somewhere nearby, and hoped that meant something good.

Pushing himself to his feet, he saw the Count attacking an unarmed Artemis with his brain sickness thing, and a wave of almost brotherly protectiveness washed over him, "Leave her alone!"

Before he could intervene, something blasted him from behind.

 _"Enough."_

Wotan was suddenly striking them all down with hot, _burning_ blue lighting, which - when you're standing ankle-deep in mucky water? Yeah, it hurt a _hell_ of a lot more than usual.

The evil blue sorcerer floating above them uttered in horror, "The Helmet of Fate..."

Okay, so his brain was pretty fried from the electricity, but Wally still knew that was bad, and he glanced up to see Kaldur holding the cursed object above his head. His heart rate shot up. "No, Aqualad! DON'T!"

Too late.

He was distracted by seeing one of his best friends disappear before his very eyes to become Dr. Fate, possibly forever, and didn't see Black Adam running at him.

Kid Flash _definitely_ felt himself get launched into a tree, though.

A sickening snap echoed through the marsh, but it was drowned out by his cry of agony. The speedster, despite being fairly used to violence at this point, had never had a very high tolerance for beatings. He knew how to take them from his father, but it very rarely happened to the point of causing broken bones.

The sudden urge to throw up had nothing to do with Count Vertigo's stupid headgear, and everything to do with a memory from seven years ago playing back in his mind like old movie footage.

 _Screeching tires... crunching... screams_ _of horror... blood..._

He managed to snap out of it, looking up to see Fate floating above, and his heart sank, "Oh, Dude..." Clutching his right arm, he couldn't help but think he should have seen this coming. They _weren't_ the Justice League, after all, why did Batman ever think they were ready to take on seven of their mentors most powerful foes?

Dr. Fate seemed kind of pissed off; either it was the cabin fever, or he didn't like them playing dress up with his helmet whenever they were in too deep. _"Wotan!"_ He bellowed in a voice that did not belong to Aqualad, _"You are mine!"_

It sounded possessive and just a bit gay to the teen. Maybe Nabu and Wotan were exes who courted or whatever back in the day? Which, when he thought about it, would actually be pretty freaking weird.

Then they were engaging in a lightsaber battle of death without the lightsabers.

Knowing there was nothing he could do for Kaldur now, the redhead looked around at the hot mess of a brawl the rest of his teammates were in.

Catching a glimpse of red, Kid Flash's head snapped to the side, green eyes narrowing at what he saw: Robin was in a one-on-one fight with the Joker, who was laughing maniacally and slashing at him with a switchblade in each hand. The brunette was holding his own but he still looked rather worn out - mud splashed all over his new uniform and sweat glistening on his face as he kept dodging.

 _He can handle it,_ _he can handle it, he can..._ _Oh, fuck it!_ Glaring fiercely, the redhead launched himself at the wannabe-clown-pimp-looking freakshow, knocking him into the muck with little thought, "Not today, McGiggles!"

The Joker was visibly caught off-guard by the attack, but he merely cackled jovially and went to retrieve his knives, while Robin helped Wally to his feet, looking startled when the older teen yelped in pain as the ninja grabbed his hands and pulled him up.

"What... KF, your arm!" His face went pale with concern.

Shaking his head, the speedster assured him, "I'll be fine, I-" he cut off, spotting Vertigo and Ivy teaming up on Miss Martian. "Think you can handle this Looney Tune?" He asked his boyfriend.

"Definitely."

Kid Flash braced himself, and accidentally met Artemis's gaze, she gave him a quick nod, and he blinked before shooting off in their direction, bodychecking the Vlatavan and tearing off a piece of his cape as he did so, giving the blonde archer enough time to kick him in the face, knocking him into Ivy and sending them both into the mud.

It was pretty satisfying to watch, plus he got a souvenir out of it.

At least until Artemis took it, ignoring his protesting, and turned it into a makeshift sling.

He was about to thank her when Wolf slammed into her out of nowhere, and he ducked just in time to avoid getting his face turned into a crater by Ultra-Humanite, wincing as his fist dented the tree exactly where he'd been standing.

Despite the fact that they were all putting up a good fight, it was pretty obvious they wouldn't be able to last on their own for much longer. That was why the moment he heard that bizarre backwards-speak chant and saw Wotan getting thrown into the dirt, a huge sense of relief washed over him.

Any doubts he might have had about the Justice League having their backs was erased in that moment.

They were suddenly surrounded by their mentors, who looked just as haggard as their apprentices though just as willing to keep fighting, but the smarter villains surrendered immediately.

Joker was...intelligent in his own mad genius way, but the insanity usually covered it.

If it weren't for Dr. Fate they'd probably all be dead from Joker Venom, which was one thing he never wanted to experience, like, ever. At least if what he'd heard was any indication as to how awful it was. Still, when Aqualad managed to take off the Helmet, he was immensely grateful to Mr. Nelson and Nabu both.

Losing one family member to death and another to addiction had been hard enough. The speedster didn't think he could handle having anyone else he cared about taken from him.

As he looked at the Leaguers, most of whom seemed to be watching them with proud smiles or expressions of vague approval, he guessed that they could have done a lot worse today.

Maybe they could handle being a team of heroes, after all.

* * *

Dick was just pulling on his pyjama shirt when he heard a knock on his door.

"Come in!" He called out, and the door was pushed open.

The young teen turned around and saw his adoptive father standing there, making him smile and greet him cheerily, "Hey Bruce! Are you going out tonight?" He questioned lightly.

"Yes, but I wanted to see how you were doing first."

His son beamed at him, "I'm great! A little banged up, but it's nothing I can't handle. I think I'll be fine to start patrolling again this weekend," he added hopefully.

Bruce frowned slightly as he silently regarded his ward.

His attitude since returning from the mission a few hours ago had been noticeably different from the past few weeks. Happier. More energetic. It was like his confidence had returned.

It hadn't taken long for negative effects from the ordeal in California to start making themselves known. Aside from his physical injuries, Dick had been quieter and withdrawn, exhausted due to waking up from nightmares, not to mention his occasional loss of appetite and hypervigilance even around him and Alfred.

While the panic attacks and exaggerated startle response was to be expected from a child who had been abducted, beaten and sexually assaulted, he'd hoped that his son's sessions with Dinah would have had more noticeable, positive results.

So far it had seemed like Wally West was the only one able to help him - the two were often texting or talking on the phone when not at the cave, and the speedster's presence in their home was frequent. The primary reason he didn't object was because the red haired boy had obviously been helping Dick to work through his trauma, perhaps due to his own experience.

Even after the Metahuman would leave, his ward was much more cheerful, and less emotionally distant.

While the billionaire would forever be grateful to the boy for going so far to save Robin, he couldn't help but suspect the two teenagers were hiding something from him. Maybe they deserved more trust than that, but his instincts were telling him to investigate. When asked what the two would talk about during their visits, they were elusive. Sometimes Dick would be all smiles and laughter - reminding him more of the carefree, impish child he often was at home. Other times he'd seem sad, reflective... Those were the days Bruce knew that whatever they had spoken about was personal and not to be questioned.

But there was no doubt the speedster effected his son's mood, sometimes drastically.

Even before their team had been formed, Batman had personally felt that something was... _off_ about the Flash's boy. He was hyperactive and silly for sure, definitely childish when he first started out.

...But there had always been a feeling deep down that there was more to Barry's nephew than he had let on. Something in his eyes...it reminded him of the haunted looks he'd seen from victims of one horrific crime or another. Kid Flash also had moments of surprising maturity and seriousness, and upon seeing the reactions of the adults around him, he would promptly go back to playing ignorant. Paying close attention now, though, the crime fighter wondered how he hadn't seen the signs of the pain his son's best friend was in.

Now he knew why he'd thought there was something weird about the teen.

Kid Flash had inadvertently shown Batman just how _much_ he cared about Robin by revealing what was obviously some very heavy, closely-guarded secrets to a dangerous criminal in order to get her to reveal his location.

It had worked, too, but now the boy looked at Bruce like he was afraid. Not of him, though there was definitely some of that, but of what he knew. The man had not spoken to anyone about it, not even Superman - who he knew had overheard. Judging by the speedster's reaction, he hadn't told Flash about any of the abuse he'd gone through.

Bruce was conflicted about whether or not to approach Wally, either as the concerned parent of his friend or as the overseer of his team, and talk to him about it. He was not normally quick to trust Metahumans. Their powers and his experiences made him wary. But the redhead had earned his trust.

Knowing that one of the members of a group he was in charge of, the best friend of his son and nephew of his ally and teammate, was being _beaten_ by his own _father_ made the man's blood boil.

Of course, as Batman he knew the backgrounds of all the people Robin worked closely with, for his own safety. He had known that Wally had a younger sister that died sometime ago - though it was actually Flash himself who had told him that. They had been on monitor duty at the Watchtower together and the speedster would not shut up, even for a minute. Eventually he'd (temporarily) silenced him with his infamous glare.

After about thirty seconds, the Metahuman had pulled a picture out of nowhere and showed it to him. It was of two cute young redhaired children in front of a Christmas tree with their parents. Now, even though that was years before Robin, he'd still had a soft spot for children, so he didn't immediately tell Flash how little he cared to see his mementos. Instead, Batman had given him a questioning look, and the blonde man had told him they were the family of his girlfriend's older brother. Flash then proudly boasted that the nine-year-old in the photo was his biggest fan. It wasn't until later that he learned the little girl in the picture had died over a year ago, after getting hit by a car.

The news had left him feeling hollow and unsettled at the time, thinking of the smiling family and knowing that they would probably never be that happy again. Death changed things that way...

Really, this had been on his mind a lot lately, but even more so because of his earlier conversation with Conner. Apparently, he'd seen on the news that Cameron Mahkent - known as Icicle Jr. - had been admitted to the hospital ward at Belle Reve Penitentiary after being ambushed and brutalized by Icicle Sr., Mammoth, and Blockbuster in the showers.

Superboy had looked miserable with guilt when he confessed to tricking the inmate into helping him so he could get the collars turned back on. It hadn't been in their initial report because he hadn't believed it to be relevant at the time, but Junior apparently was concerned over his father's reaction to the failure of their breakout attempt.

Checking with Strange at the prison, he found out it was true. Not only did it piss him off (the system never should have let a seventeen year old emotionally unstable boy be tried as an adult), but it brought his thoughts back to Kid Flash. Conner was determined to go and visit Junior, but what was Bruce meant to do with the knowledge he had about his child's closest friend?

Maybe he _should_ have a talk with him...

"-uce!" He blinked, looking down at the thirteen year old who was watching him with a bit of concern, "Did you hear anything I just said?"

He'd zoned out, it seemed.

"I'm sorry, Dick. I was going over the details of your team's recent mission for when I fill out a report for the League's files later." He smiled apologetically, wiping the worry from his boy's face. "Now, what were you saying?"

"Oh, right! Well..." The teenager put a hand on the back of his neck, drawing Bruce's attention to the vivid purple marks there. "I was wondering if-"

His guardian cut him off, "What's that on your neck?"

Dick blinked, moving his hand, "Huh? Uh, Poison Ivy. Vines. Strangulation. Miss Martian saved me. No biggie. Anyway, I was wondering if Wally could maybe stay over for the weekend..." He gave a big, hopeful smile. "Please?"

"Alright."

His son blinked at him in shock, "Wait, really? Just like that? Awesome!" He jumped forward and hugged the man around his waist in a rare moment of physical affection. "Thanks, Bruce!"

The billionaire smiled and lightly ruffled the boy's dark hair. He didn't really have a problem with Dick having his best friend over when it was a Friday and they had no plans.

Plus, this would give him the opportunity he needed to talk to the speedster.

* * *

 **Expect the next update fairly soon, it'll be about Wally and him and Dick talking more about themselves, interacting with Bruce and Alfred, etc...**

 **How are you liking the story so far?**


	21. Broken Supernova

**All My Friends Are Superheroes**

 **Summary** : Being a teenaged hero is no walk in the park; juggling school, homework, superpowers, friends and family can be tough, especially when you and your secret boyfriend are tiptoeing around teammates, parents and mentors. However, sometimes in life you have to just stop worrying, and let the stones fall where they may. It might not be that bad, after all. Season 1. AU/OOC. Birdflash.

 **Point Of View** : Third person's POV, set in past tense/story format, with dreams/thoughts italicized. The focus will mainly be on Robin and Kid Flash, of course, but I fully plan to further explore their interactions with the team, and also with their JLA mentors. Story starts after the team has been established, right after the end of their first official mission together.

* * *

 _"I think that we are like stars. Something happens to burst us open; but when we burst open and think we are dying; we're actually turning into a supernova. And then when we look at ourselves again, we see that we're suddenly more beautiful than we ever were before!" - C. JoyBell C._

* * *

 _I really shouldn't be doing this._

That was the only thought that was currently going through the teenager's mind as he stood in front of his bathroom mirror with a shiny, single-edged stainless steel razor blade sitting in the palm of his left hand.

Wally hadn't cut himself in almost two whole months.

It hasn't been easy, that's for sure, and he'd been tempted to do it more than a few times, because he _knew_ that it would make him feel better, if only for a little while. He could spend hours simply imagining the sensation of the gleaming metal against his soft white skin - waiting in anticipation for the eventual collision between electropositive element and organic matter.

Even if he told himself he wouldn't do it ever again, the temptation would just be too great. He'd eventually crack, and then convince himself for a few weeks afterwards that it would be the last time, but it never was.

It was like an addiction.

Just as dangerous as smoking, gambling, drinking, or any other number of reckless activities.

Since gaining his powers, the struggle had become far greater, due to the knowledge that he could do it anywhere at anytime and it would heal, making it impossible to get caught so long as he properly disposed of the evidence afterwards.

He knew the biggest reason he hadn't done it recently was because of Dick.

Maybe he was just deluding himself, but ever since the thing between them started - even before they made it official - he'd felt less ashamed of his vice and more angry; more determined to stop. If Robin could go through so much horror in his life and still be strong, than he should be able to do the same thing.

The first time it happened, he was twelve years old, beginning right around when he'd begun to mess around with classmates. Kyle Jenkins, a peer's "cool" older brother, had convinced him to have sex in the basement of whoever had thrown the party. He'd felt so empty and worthless after giving in that he just wanted to die. He told himself it would never come to that, though.

Never again.

It wasn't that he cut because he was _suicidal_. Wally very much wanted to _live_. He didn't do it because he wanted to stop feeling altogether. He wasn't one of those emo kids who listened to metal music and mutiliated himself for shits and giggles. He wasn't a masochist.

No, Wally cut himself so he that _would_ feel. Something. Anything. As long as it wasn't the numb, unwanted way he so often felt. The self harm didn't physically hurt m; though he honestly wished it would, it was just a distraction from another kind of pain. An emotional one. The words from his family and schoolmates and even sometimes his teammates would fade away.

 _Worthless... Stupid... Reject... Lazy... Screwup...Child... Pathetic... Loser... Slacker.._. _Clown..._ _Geek... Slut..._

Originally, the redhead had swore he was only doing it to make himself feel better when he was at his very lowest, it wasn't ever intended to be a permanent solution to his problems.

Finding something that could do the job hadn't been easy.

His mother's Venus wouldn't have worked, and his father's razor was a complicated electrical monstrosity. In the end, he paid a guy he found hanging around the hardware store (who reeked of marijuana, by the way, which made him worry the dude would spend his money on Oreos or something) to get him a pack of those old-fashioned single-edged steel blades that looked like what a grandfather could have used during World War II. Wally had thought up a perfect a cover story in case the man asked what a twelve year old boy would need them for, but he hadn't asked. The stoned man hadn't cared.

No one did.

The main reason for his suddenly renewed temptation was a pathetic one, in his opinion.

Wally's father had insulted at him.

Yes, really, that was it. He'd come home after the mission and changed out of his uniform before going downstairs to greet his parents. His mother wasn't cooking dinner yet, she was sitting at the kitchen table with her head resting on her arms, exhausted.

It only took a glance into the living room to understand why.

Ruldolph West was laying on the couch, completely blitzed.

Big. Fucking. Surprise.

Suppressing his desire to shake the living shit out of his father for putting Mom through the hope that he was getting better _again_ and wasting money that could have been put towards other things than that stupid trip, he'd simply given a quiet hello so as not to aggravate a clearly tense situation.

He'd grabbed a protein bar from the kitchen cupboard and was about to head upstairs when his father caught a glimpse of his cast, and slurred out an inquiry as to what happened, as though he actually cared.

Wally hadn't wanted to answer, but he did anyways, "I got thrown into a tree during the mission. We fought a bunch of bad guys - Joker, Poison Ivy, Ultra-Humanite, Count Vertigo, etcetera."

He knew it would have been quicker to just end the sentence with "bad guys," but a small part of him still loved his father very much, and craved his approval. Maybe he thought tagging on the infamous names would impress him a little.

It never did, which he knew, but he still didn't fail to tell him about the missions he went on anyways.

The drunk enough man had laughed at him and called him a pathetic loser for not being able to dodge an attack even with super speed, and instead of spitting the word 'hypocrite' at him like any other teenager might have (Because, _really?_ _He_ was the loser?), the teen had stomped up the stairs and into the bathroom, slamming the door shut and twisting the lock, tears stinging his eyes.

It was so _stupid_ \- that wasn't even the worst thing his father had called him this _year_ , but it brought back those feelings of self-hatred and inadequacy that he'd desperately been trying to bury.

He'd now been standing in front of the mirror for closing in on two hours, and the longer he gazed back at his own empty-eyed reflection, the more his internally directed loathing seemed to grow.

Glaring at himself, Wally raised the blade and held it against his throat for a moment, giving a wry smile permission to pass over his face. "If only..." He muttered, allowing himself to fantasize briefly, before lowering the razor. With his shitty luck it wouldn't even kill him, just hurt like hell and make a mess before healing.

One attempt to end it had been enough, he didn't plan on trying again.

Finally, he rolled up the shirt sleeve covering his bad arm, glad he hadn't needed an actual sling or a full cast for the partially fractured limb. Knowing he couldn't simply stand there all night, he decided to just do it. Just once, and then it would be over. He'd get his relief and could hopefully fall asleep before the euphoria transformed into gut-twisting hatred.

Taking a deep breath, Wally pressed the flat edge of the razor against his soft skin, reminding himself that it wouldn't leave a scar. The tight ball of anxiety that had been building in the pit of his stomach since he came home began to uncoil like a rattlesnake poised to strike. He moved slowly, methodically, and when the redhead could wait no longer, he ran the cool steel blade across the inside of his arm with an unhurried precision.

He always cut shallowly, but still deep enough to slice a thin red line a few inches away from his wrist. Because of his injury, he had to go further down, to the crook of his elbow. It would have been dangerous for anyone else, what wil all the fat juicy arteries, but he knew what he was doing. The flesh there opened up easily, blood seeping through the pale skin while the speedster watched, transfixed.

A perfect cut.

It was cold comfort at best, but it was all he had.

Unconsciously holding his breath, he felt the seconds tick by slowly. The blood rushed to fill the opening before it soon eased to a trickle and clotted, exactly as he knew it would. Soon, he was watching it fade into a pink, and then eventually white line, before vanishing completely in front of his eyes.

Despite the small smile playing at his lips, Wally's eyes felt moist. He gripped the razor blade, thoughts of Leanne and his parents and hos teachers and friends passing through his head.

He knew he would want to cut again, he always did. The feeling of being alive that it gave him never lasted long enough. Only one other thing made him feel as in the present as he did when he harmed himself.

Robin.

 _Whenever we're together_ , the teen sighed as he carefully cleaned the blade with hot water, _I feel like I matter again... Like someone would care if I just vanished into thin air. He makes me feel like I'm important._

Just then his cell phone went off, snapping him out of his reverie.

Wally jerked his sleeve down and fumbled for his cell, a quick glance at the caller ID told him it was just the person he needed to hear from. "Rob! Hey, what's up?" He attempted to sound cheery without seeming fake, which wasn't hard since he was genuinely happy to talk to his boyfriend at any time.

 _"Hi Wally! How's your arm?"_

The redhead smiled slightly at the concerned tone, "Ah, it'll be fine. Uncle B tells me it should be healed in under a month - just in time for Halloween! Isn't that great?" He mentally groaned. _Reign in the enthusiasm,_ _West, or he's gonna think you're high!_

Hearing Dick laugh at the other end seemed to mend together the crack in his heart that had formed over the past few hours. _"I'm glad to hear it, Wally. By the way, are you doing anything this weekend?"_

Cocking his head to the side, he asked curiously, "Not that I can think of. Why?"

 _"Do you want to stay_ _over at my place for the next couple of days?"_ His tone was full of excitement and hope. _"I already asked Bruce and he's fine with it. So, will you come? Please?"_

Wally instantly agreed, "Sure, I'd love to!"

Spend the entire weekend at Wayne Manor and get to hang out with his best friend/boyfriend while eating Alfred's cooking and getting to avoid his parents and all the bad memories he associated his own house with? He would have been crazy not to accept. "What time should I be there by?"

" _You can head over whenever you're ready!"_ Dick chirped back brightly, a smile in his voice. _"I'll see you soon, okay?"_

The Metahuman grinned, "Alright, be right there. Love you." He ended the call.

It only took him about one point four seconds to pack everything he would need into an overnight bag, and the speedster was heading downstairs in the blink of an eye, eager to get out of Keystone City ASAP.

A rough, garbled voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Where're you goin'?"

Standing frozen with his hand on the doorknob, the fifteen-year-old cursed mentally, glancing at his father over his shoulder, "To my teammate's house in Gotham City, for a sleepover?" He cringed when his father laughed obnoxiously.

"Hanging out with the little freak again, are ya? The one that dresses like a traffic light?"

Wally's hands balled into fists, "Robin's _not_ a freak."

"You're right," The man sneered, taking another gulp of his drink. "That'd be _you_."

His mother frowned as she entered the living room, a scowl of disapproval on her face. "Rudolph!"

Snorting, Mary's husband looked at Wally with disgust before turning to his wife, "What, he _is_ a freak! Just like my pathetic excuse for a brother-in-law. Don't know what Iris ever saw in Allen in the first place. If it weren't for him..."

The speedster was nearly vibrating with anger this time, "Don't talk about Uncle Barry and Aunt Iris that way, and _especially_ don't talk about Robin. You've never even met him! They're good people," he said firmly, his voice became colder then, "Better than you ever were or will ever be."

"Wally, quiet!" His mother hushed him nervously.

His father stood then, and the teen swallowed hard but stood his ground. "Nah, let the brat talk, Mary. If our son wants to sneak around behind our backs with his jailbait boyfriend like a little fucking _homo_ , we at least deserve an explanation for it!"

All the blood drained from his face when he heard that, and Wally's heart pounded violently as he backed up, his instincts screaming at him to flee. Oh God. This was _not_ a conversation he was ready for. He didn't think he'd ever be ready, especially when his father was inebriated. "I-I don't know what you're talking about."

 _Thwack!_

Head snapping to the side from the force of the slap, the teenager stared into his father's reddened, bleary, anger-filled eyes with barely concealed fear. "You think I'm an idiot, boy?" Rudolph grabbed a handful of his son's hair and slammed his head back against the door, drawing out a cry of pain, _"WELL DO YOU?!"_

"No Sir!" The redhead yelped in terror as his father punched him in the face before flinging him down onto the floor, pain surging up his broken arm when he landed on top of it, "I'm s–sorry, Dad! Don't hurt me, please!"

A gasp of pain left him when the man delivered a sharp kick to his ribs with his sturdy work boot, roaring out a "Don't you fuckin' tell me what to do!" It was quickly followed by a second, and a third, and soon Wally was gagging, trying not to vomit from the agony, tears streaming down his pallid face. Normally he was able to take the pain of his father's "punishments," but it seemed like he was being extra violent today.

"Rudolph, enough! He's hurt!" Mary ran to stand in front of her child, arms stretched out with her back to the teen. "He said he was sorry," she tried to calm her husband, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I know you're angry about getting laid off, but it's not W-"

The man hit her so hard it sent her crashing to the floor, next to the teenager, "Shut up, bitch!" He snarled, before turning to his son, "Wallace, shirt off, _now_."

Wincing in pain, the speedster sat up, his fingers trembling as he hurriedly undid his buttons, ignoring his mother's protests. He was scared, but tried not to let it show. After all, he'd been defending her to the best of his ability since he was little. It was the least he could do after all the times she'd taken a beating for him, "It's okay, Mom."

"Yeah, Mary," the man sneered cruelly. "Let him take it like a man, the same way he takes cock from all the neighbourhood boys!"

His mother was crying, but Wally just closed his eyes when he saw his father unbuckling his belt, and waited for the inevitable. His body tensed in a learned reflex when he heard it whooshing in the air, and then the leather cracked against his bare flesh.

Pain blazed through him.

The redheaded boy never screamed anymore, he knew that just made his punishments last longer. His nails dug into his palms the same way his teeth did to his lower lip, but he never gave more than a muffled whimper or a gasp. By the time Rudolph finished with the belt, there were literally dozens of angry, bloody red welts covering his torso, back and shoulders, matching the scars of whippings he'd received in the past, before his powers. Wally's whole body was shaking from the pain, but he thought it was over.

Which was exactly why he cried out in surprise when his father grabbed him by the hair again, forcing him into his feet, "Let go!" He whined, his scalp throbbing as he was dragged, "Dad, please! S–Stop, I'm really sorry!"

He could hear his mother yelling, but was unable to focus on the exact words.

Rudolph was opening the basement door then, and he sneered in his son's ear, "Lay down there like the filthy little whore you are!" He was being shoved then, and Wally tried to grab the railing, but the force and his off balance still sent him tumbling down the concrete stairs. Despite trying to keep himself tucked into a ball as he fell backwards, he hit his head on the ground when he landed, sending sharp shooting pain through his skull. His whole body ached, and he couldn't be sure how badly hurt he was.

Laying there, he tried to figure it out.

The fifteen year old shivered and wrapped his good arm around himself. It was freezing down there. A muffled sob drew his attention suddenly, and rage boiled his blood when he realized what it was. The son of a bitch was up there beating his mother.

Wally wanted to get up, to go and teach the pathetic excuse for a man a lesson, and go to the rescue of the woman who gave birth to him. But his limbs felt paralyzed, and he briefly feared that was exactly the case, that he'd injured his spinal cord and couldn't move anymore. It was very likely that one of his legs were broken, but Flash had run on a broken leg before, so shouldn't he have been able to, too?

It took him twenty awful seconds to understand that he was simply going into shock.

His mother's cries were getting louder, obvious pain echoing from them, and not knowing what else to do, the redhead fumbled for his pocket, cursing his hand when it was slow to cooperate.

 _Gotta call the police, or Uncle B... Someone... Come on..._

Though it took several attempts, he managed to get ahold of the plastic and silicone device. He was about to phone the second person on his speed dial, but remembered the Flash was off in Metropolis with Superman for some reason he couldn't quite remember...

It was getting hard to stay awake, his chest was aching sharply and he needed to do something. The sound of fists hitting flesh burrowed into his brain, and he squeezed his eyes shut tight, desperately trying to drown the noises out, eventually hitting the first contact on his phone.

 _Please, please pick up..._

* * *

"Perhaps he's simply lost, Master Dick." The Wayne family butler suggested as he watched the thirteen year old impatiently peer out the window before huffing in disappointment.

The young boy had been waiting eagerly at least half an hour for his friend to arrive.

"KF has been here a dozen times, Alfred, he _can't_ be lost." There was a look of concern in the brunette's eyes as he glanced at the gray-haired man, before turning his gaze back to the glass.

Another fifteen minutes of silence passed before Bruce entered the foyer, pausing to raise an eyebrow and frown when he noticed them standing there, "He's not here yet?" Even if super-tardiness could be inherited through marriage, thirty five minutes was a long time to be late by...

"No, and I'm worried." Dick declared at he turned to look at the two men, "Maybe I should-"

His sentence was cut short by the sound of his phone going off.

The brunette immediately pulled his cell from his pocket, checking the screen and looking a bit less concerned, it was Wally! He must have just been running late, after all, nothing to worry about.

"Wally," he greeted cheerily, trying not to sound irritated, "What's ta-" he cut himself off at the noise that came from the other side. It was almost...wheezy. "Hello? Who is this?" The teen's eyes narrowed while Alfred and Bruce exchanged looks.

 _"...Robin."_ A pained voice rasped.

It was Wally, but he sounded so _wrong_.

There was a breathless urgency that frightened him, not to mention the older teen called him _Robin_. He rarely ever called him that outside of uniform, now that he knew his identity, it was always his first name, or "Rob," which was generally for when he was between his two identities. When they were alone, he sometimes called him "Little Bird," if he was teasing him.

"What's going on?" He asked, fighting to keep his voice calm and collected. Maybe the speedster had - _somehow_ \- caught the flu and he was calling to cancel. Then he heard shuffling, followed by a whine of pain. His stomach twisted with concern. "Wally? Did something happen?"

The redhead started to say something, but broke off into wet, horrible coughs, followed by a spitting sound, _"Fuck. There's so much blood..."_

Dick reached out and suddenly grabbed his guardian's arm in a death grip, much to his surprise. The thirteen-year old pulled the phone away from his ear and set it to speaker. "Wally, where are you right now? Can you tell me where the blood is coming from?"

Eyes narrowing at his son's words and the muffled, panicked breaths coming from the phone, Bruce's demeanour began to change into that of the Batman. He signalled the boy, and the two of them were instantly heading for the Batcave, using the closest entryway - an antique grandfather clock.

 _"H–Home..."_ Wally stuttered weakly, _"I'm at...home. He's hurting her, and I don't know, I can't... I can't move my legs."_ There was a sob clinging to the undertone of his voice, which sounded more afraid than the brunette could ever remember hearing it.

Heart pounding in his chest as he began tugging on his uniform, Dick managed to fight down his own terror enough to ask, "Hurting who? Who's in your house, Wally? Where are your parents?" There was no immediate answer, and the speedster's breathing was getting more laboured, "I need you to stay awake, Wally."

In the background he heard a woman's cry as he jumped into the Batmobile just seconds before his mentor, due to his own costume being lighter and easier to get into.

What the hell was going on?

Despite how groggy he obviously was, Wally managed to answer all of his boyfriend's questions, in order no less. _"Mom... N-No one. My dad is-"_ he cut off, choking and gasping, _"-really drunk. 'm in the basement, they're upstairs... He's h-hitting her and I can't move!"_

There was a whisper then, sad and frightened and slurred, _"You have'ta help her, Rob, please..."_

He heard a soft groan, and then the sound of a light thump, before silence.

"Wally? Wally?! KID FLASH!" Robin's wide, panic filled blue eyes met his mentor's grim gaze. The man just handed him his mask as he threw the car into drive and it raced down the tunnel.

They could only hope they got there in time.

* * *

Batman's entire body was stiff with fury as the Batmobile tore down the street.

They'd taken the hidden, larger Zeta portal he used to transport his various vehicles and aircrafts outside of Gotham unnoticed. In the passenger seat, Robin sat with his knees drawn to his chest, staring blankly out the windshield, fingers tightly gripping the edge of his seat.

His partner was quite obviously terrified for his best friend, understandably so. The entire drive there, all the vigilante could think was that he knew something like this would happen eventually, he _knew_ it, and he'd done _nothing_.

If his boy lost another person he loved tonight, half of the responsibility would be on the Dark Knight's shoulders. The other half would be on those of the bastard that thought it was acceptable to put hands on his own child.

When they arrived at the two-story house, Robin leaped out of the car before it even parked and was barrelling up the front steps. He fumbled with his utility belt for a moment and - to his partner's surprise - pulled out a key, quickly unlocking the front door and flinging it open, "Wally?!"

No stealth needed when they knew what they were going up against.

Batman followed the ninja through the foyer and into the living room. It was absolutely _trashed_. Empty bottles of various alcohols were strewn about the room, the floor was sprinkled with shattered glass and the TV screen had a huge crack running through it.

Laying in the center of the mess was an unconscious woman.

They knew from photographs it was Wally's mother, who was petite, in her late thirties, and possessed short and wavy auburn colored hair. She would have been an attractive woman no doubt, were it not for the awful bruising covering half her face or the split in her lower lip. Disgust filled him at the thought of a man abusing his own family in such a way.

His first instinct was to check her for a pulse, and when he found a steady one, Robin began to quickly look around for his best friend. Then he saw a door and, remembering what the redhead had told him over the phone, immediately fled down the basement stairs.

Batman set the woman down on the couch, having checked her over and now knowing she wasn't in need of immediate medical attention and that he could call and insist that Flash return to bring her to the hospital.

A sudden terror-filled scream made his blood run cold and sent him racing for the door his partner had gone through. He took the steps two at a time and froze momentarily at the sight he was met with.

Wally's shivering body - naked from the waist up - was cradled in his son's arms, his complexion an unnatural chalky white, violently bruised all shades of black, purple, blue, red, yellow, brown and green. The bloody discoloured patches were mottling the skin of his shoulders, chest and abdomen. The redhead looked as though he'd been whipped with something flexible, like a strap of some sort. His healing was working but not nearly as fast as it should have been. There was also a dark handprint on his cheek, his hair was matted with dried blood, and one of his legs were angled oddly, obviously broken.

It was the sound of Robin shakily whispering the speedster's name that brought him out of it, and then the Dark Knight was taking the boy from his partner, ignoring the heartbreaking look on his face, instructing him to call Flash and Superman to see if he could reach either in Metropolis, and then contact Black Canary - he may have had medical training but he didn't know just from a glance how injured Wally was.

The blood smeared around his mouth and nose, which he hadn't noticed at a distance, was particularly troublesome. It could have just been from a hit to the face, but more likely was that he had internal bleeding of some kind.

All he knew was that he would do everything he could, he wouldn't let the teenager die because he hadn't intervened before this happened.

Batman was especially not about to watch his son cry over another gravestone.

* * *

"What's the diagnosis?"

Superman glanced at Flash, who was sitting at his nephew's side, clutching his hand, while Black Canary finished setting up the medical equipment. They were on the Watchtower, while Flash's wife Iris was at Keystone General hospital with Mary, Wally's mother.

"It's pretty serious." The Man of Steel sighed, looking back to his friend, "Wally's right lower leg is fractured, as are six of his ribs. The ones not cracked are stil in bad shape. He has 3% Pneumothorax in his left lung from a puncture we think one of the ribs caused. Other than that he had minor concussion, bruising covering his body, and we had to give him a blood transfusion to treat the shock."

"There's more." It wasn't a question.

Clark sighed, "He went into cardiac arrest about twenty minutes ago. We managed to bring him back, but it was close." His tone made it clear that the other man did _not_ need to share that particular detail with Robin. Shaking his head, he gave Batman a serious look, "Bruce, that kid has scar issue covering at _least_ twenty-five percent of his body. Did you have any idea it was _this_ bad?"

Because he sure hadn't.

Turning away, the vigilante muttered, "I...had my suspicions. I planned to talk to him about it this evening, he was going to stay for the weekend." It wasn't soon enough, though. "Will he be okay?"

"He's healing faster than he was," Clark told the other man, "We had to raise his core body temperature first. Do you know where Kid Flash's father is now? If he was already gone when you got there..." His jaw clenched slightly.

When Batman faced Superman once more, it was clear that behind the cowl, his eyes were blazing with righteous fury. "No idea, I fully intend to find out. But first..." His gaze moved to the door, before flickering to Barry Allen, who had his head buried in his hands at this point.

A knowing look passed over the other hero's face, "You go talk to Robin, I'll stay here...keep the Flash company."

Giving a slight nod, the Dark Knight stalked out of the medical bay with a swish of his cape.

Eventually, the man found his partner in Batman's personal quarters, sitting on the rarely used bed. He'd removed his cape and mask, had his head down, with his expression giving nothing away.

Bruce closed the door behind himself, pulled back his cowl, and approached his son.

When he looked up, Dick's eyes - normally a vibrant shade of blue - were red-rimmed from crying and full of fear and despair, dry tear tracks on his pale cheeks. His expression was as lost as the day his family was murdered, which was exactly what his guardian had been afraid of.

The boy was completely silent for a few minutes, even when Bruce sat down beside him, before he finally took a deep breath, and asked in a quiet, hoarse voice, "...is he dead?"

"No." Bruce replied instantly, putting a hand on the teen's shoulder. The fact that he didn't react told him just how worried his son was. "Dick, Wally is going to be alright." Still nothing. "He had a slightly collapsed lung and his leg is broken, but he is already healing."

"...Oh."

Without warning, The raven-haired boy wrapped his arms around his mentor's waist, crying into his chest armor, and the man rubbed his back gently, attempting to calm him.

Dick's voice was muffled as he choked out, "He could have died."

Sighing as he knew exactly what the boy was thinking about, he ran his fingers through the acrobat's hair like he used to do when his ward was younger and would wake up from a nightmare, "But he didn't."

"...What if he wants to?"

Bruce lightly pushed the teen away by his shoulders, frowning at the nearly devastated expression on his child's face. He hated that look, it made his chest tighten painfully with the urge to extinguish Dick's sadness. "Why would you say that?"

"I-I saw the scars," Dick whispered, wiping tears from his eyes. "Above his bellybutton, and on his upper arms. Those weren't from getting hit. They taught us about that in school, after one girl..." he trailed off, shrinking away from that thought. "Now I know why he never wore shirts with sleeves above the elbow... He got his powers when he was thirteen, which means-" he stopped short, biting at his lower lip.

The vigilante had noticed the marks as well, but he'd hoped that the young boy hadn't, and that if he did he wouldn't put the pieces together. Wally had obviously been hurting himself for a long time, the question however... was he _still_ doing it?

From what he knew, depression was estimated to affect 350 million people globally. It was more commonly diagnosed in women, but often began in adolescence, becoming most prevalent later in life - between ages forty and sixty eight. Stress, peer pressure, low self esteem, hormones, genetic disposition and childhood trauma (including abuse and neglect) were all factors.

It was no secret that teenagers who suffered from depression sometimes self-harmed to cope, be it physically via starvation or purging, mutilation, drug and alcohol use, or simply behaving recklessly. He also knew depressed teenagers who harmed themselves were even more likely to attempt suicide before anyone found out.

Given Dick's background, Bruce had monitored his emotional and psychological health over the years just as carefully as he'd watched his physical health, perhaps even more so. He knew what sorts of dark thoughts losing your family could bring about in a child. Aside from needing therapy and a prescription for Ambien to help with nightmares when he was younger, the man had never seen anything to suggest his son was a danger to himself.

But if someone like Wally West could keep a secret like that for so many years, then what if-

"I haven't."

Looking down at Dick in confusion, having briefly zoned out, the man frowned when his boy glanced away and sighed. "I know what you're thinking, Bruce, and.. I've never done anything like that. I mean, I've had bad days, sure," he raised his chin, meeting his mentor's dark brown eyes. "There were times when I wanted to be with my parents and aunt and cousin, especially around the anniversary... But I've never hurt myself, and I've never _wanted_ to die." He said it like a promise, trying to reassure his father figure.

Before Bruce could say anything, he continued, "But _I_ was never _alone_. Even before state let you take me in, I was allowed to visit Uncle Rick, and there was Jack... Even when Haly's left Gotham, I had you and Alfie, and then Leslie. There was the League members that knew, and then eventually I had KF and Roy, plus a couple of friends at school - and the kids your business partners brought over."

The young boy played with his hands, a crease in his brow, and a sad frown on his lips. "Wally had no one, though. His sister was gone and he was too scared to make any friends at school... Hurting himself probably made him feel better, like... Remember when Scarecrow got me with the fear toxin and I distracted myself from the hallucinations by picking my fingernails? It made them bleed and it hurt, but it was still better than what was going on in my head..." He sighed, "I know it's not the same. I've never done it, but I think Wally and I are enough alike that I can sort of...relate?" The brunette looked worriedly at Bruce, "Does that mean there's something wrong with me?"

If he didn't already know how intelligent his son was, Bruce would have been stunned by the level of insight the thirteen-year-old was capable of, "No, Dick, there's nothing wrong with you." He squeezed the boy's shoulder again, "You're just a compassionate person."

Dick fell silent for a few moments, before asking, "How could he do it?"

He didn't need to ask what the boy meant.

There was any number of things he could have told his son; he could have said that violent people aren't generally born over night - that there was usually an underlying cause, that abused children often become abusive adults, or that addiction and the misuse of certain substances could lead to dramatic changes in personality, how losing a loved one could drive someone over the edge (which they both could understand).

But in the end, he decided to tell the complete truth, "I really don't know, Dick."

* * *

It took nearly sixty-three hours for Wally to wake up.

The League members who had treated the boy and seen his significant injures were actually kind of relieved about that. He'd been through enough, the last thing anyone wanted was for him to feel the agony of his rapid healing process, which they knew from caring for Flash was not at all a pleasant experience when your metabolism burned through every possible combination of pain killers.

Dick had not budged from the speedster's side since he was granted permission to return tov the Watchtower after going home to eat and change into his in-between identity, which was really just a civilian him wearing sunglasses and more casual clothes.

He hadn't slept since his nap on Friday after the Injustice League mission, and that was more than two days ago. Instead of testing, he'd been sitting vigilantly by his best friend's side since early that morning, holding his uninjured hand and speaking softly to him, sharing memories of the years following their meeting, telling him it was some of the best ones he had, because he's finally gained a friend who understood him.

The brunette had been lost in thought when he suddenly felt fingers twitch against his own, and Dick had snapped out of it immediately, jumping to his feet and calling out as loud as he could, "I think he's coming to!"

Flash was there first, of course, followed by Superman, Martian Manhunter, Batman and Black Canary.

Still gripping his boyfriend's hand, Dick leaned over the redhead, "Wally?" He asked hopefully, and the special speedster-intended heart monitor does up slightly as he started to awaken.

"He appears to react to the sound of your voice, Robin." J'onn observed slash encouraged the boy.

The teen didn't need to be told twice, "Wally? It's me, Rob. Can you hear me?" His voice was lined with hope that his friend would wake up. It felt like it had been so long. "I need you to open your eyes, KF. Please."

"Unnnngh," Wally groaned, his fingertips flexed all on their own, before his green eyes suddenly snapped open wide and he shot up into a sitting position so fast his form blurred. "Wha-huh?!" He jerked his hands up, touching his face and panicking, yanking off the oxygen mask and electrodes in his chest, "What the f-"

"Calm down, Wally it's okay!"

In an instant, Flash was by his nephew's side, helping Robin pin his arms down, "Wally, Sport, do you know where you are? Remember me?" His words made everyone exchange looks - did the speedster have a more serious head injury than they initially thought.

"Of course I do!" The redhead snapped aggressively, his green eyes flickering around the room, "Crap, I'm in the looney bin, aren't I? Unless this is a hospital... Did Roy finally snap and try to kill me? He's threatened to shoot me full of arrows and throw me off a rooftop before."

Batman interjected then, "This isn't a mental hospital and you're not insane. We're on the Watchtower."

Wally snorted, "Right, like I'm going to take the verdict on my sanity from the crazed loner." He then smiled at Robin, as if noticing him for the first time. "Hey, buddy! Is this your first time up here, too? Pretty cool, huh? Maybe we can make Red Arrow jealous that we beat him to it and watch that vein in his neck stick out!"

Everyone seemed more or less rendered speechless.

Frowning, Martian Manhunter told them all with the exception of the two teenagers, _"I don't sense any confusion or uncertainty coming from him, he doesn't appear to have amnesia..."_

Getting the same idea on his own, Robin reached out and gingerly put a hand on the older boy's shoulder, "KF... Do you remember why you're even here?" His voice was soft, but serious.

Almost instantly, the smile slid off Wally's face, and his shoulders hunched slightly, as if his bubble had just been burst. "Course I remember, I've got an eidetic memory." He slowly looked at his uncle, "Is my mom okay?"

"She's fine," The man assured, "They had her at Keystone General, but she's at home with Iris in Central City right now."

Wally seemed to relax a fraction upon hearing that, and looked around at everyone else. "I appreciate the concern, everyone, but-" he hesitated, looking down at the thermal blanket covering his lower body.

That was when Batman turned to go, giving the others a look, and they immediately followed, with the exception of Robin and Flash.

As the door shut, the older speedster's face crumpled, and then the blonde man had his arms around his nephew, hugging him right, "God, Wally, I thought we'd lost you. Why didn't you _tell_ anyone?" He seemed more sad than angry.

Wally glimpsed the hurt expression on Robin's face from over Barry's shoulder as he pulled away, and the boy sighed, "The only people who knew were Mom and I... until a few weeks ago."

The two visitors exchanged confused looks.

"Batman and Superman knew," he confessed, much to their shock. "When Robin was missing-" the brunette winced, "Matt helped me catch Anya Evans, and I ran into the warehouse while Batman was interrogating her, remember?" When his uncle nodded, the redhead crossed his bad arm over top of the good one, "I thought when we found out her past I could convince her to tell us, and before I knew it, I was spilling all of my secrets."

"All?" Barry still seemed confused, but by now Robin was looking sadly at his boyfriend.

"I told her that Dad started hitting me after Leann died." He started with the thing that was... not easier to say, but less humiliating. "...and that I was assaulted by my fifth grade teacher."

"Assaulted?" Barry's frowned, but then the expression froze on his face. "You mean-"

Wally stared down, trying to maintain his composure, "I got really messed up after that." He let out a breath. "I did really stupid things and I hid them from everyone, although now it seems like Mom and Dad knew the whole time..." He trailed off.

The Flash was clearly handling the new information badly, "What did he say to you, Wally?"

When the hand of the redhead's unbroken arm clenched the rail of the hospital bed, they knew it was going to be something terrible. "He started insulting Robin," the teen flatly stated, "When I stood up for him, Dad accused us of having sex behind his back and called me a 'homo.'"

Robin's eyes went wide when he heard that, and Flash looked pissed. "It's slightly fuzzy, but I know he... insulted you, and Aunt Iris by extension. He said our powers made us freaks. He punched me, and started kicking me," the boy swallowed, "Mom tried to step in and he hit her before making me take off my shirt so he could beat me with his belt." Wally chose to skip part of what his father had said. "After that he grabbed me by the hair, called me a whore, and threw me down the stairs."

Not meeting their eyes, he picked at his cast, a shaky frown on his lips. "I-I remember not being able to move for a long time, especially my legs. When I heard him hitting Mom upstairs I managed to get my phone. I knew you were away so I called Rob for help...then I think I blacked out."

"That son of a-" Barry caught himself and clenched his hands into fists, "Excuse me, Boys." He was gone the moment the words left his mouth.

Staring at the door for a moment, Wally eventually turned to look at his boyfriend, Rob, I'm so sorry." He choked out, "I should have told you everything, I didn't want to keep those things a secret, but I was scared that once you knew the truth you'd dump me."

Dick pulled off his shades upon hearing that, his bright blue eyes were full of unshed tears, "How could you possibly think I'd break up with you for something that wasn't even your fault?"

The way the Metahuman avoided his gaze told plenty, and the brunette very carefully climbed up onto the bed, so he was right beside him. " _Wally_ ," the acrobat took his face in his hands, "Look at me, there's nothing you could tell me that would change the way I feel about you."

Wally's green eyes looked up, searching his face, "Promise?"

"Cross my heart." To emphasize his point, the younger boy took Wally's hand and rested it against his chest, letting him feel the rhythmic beat against his palm.

The older teenager shifted, leaning back against the pillows and letting out n unsteady breath. "After what he...did to me, I was too upset to say anything, too afraid. But I started researching a lot about it... I wanted to understand, maybe so I could prevent it from happening again. I began to get curious about sex, I guess, and I was really depressed. It made me...self destructive. I started cutting myself." He paused for Robin's reaction, but when the brunette did nothing but run his thumb soothingly over his hand, he continued.

"Sometimes kids have these...parties." He cringed at what he was about to say, "For hooking up. There were mostly middle schoolers, but sometimes they were older. A lot of them came for the sex," he bit his lip when the boy stared at him, uncomprehendingly, "But some came for the Pharm bowl."

Robin was frowning, eyebrows furrowed, "You mean like animals, or-"

"Pharmaceuticals." Wally told him, feeling the younger teen's hands grip his tighter at that. "Prescription drugs. Kids would steal whatever they could find at home in their parents' medicine cabinet - pain killers, antidepressants, stimulants, antipsychotics, etc - empty all of the bottles into a big bowl and mix them, then grab a handful of whatever looked good and eat them like candy."

Swallowing down the lump in his throat, the boy had to ask, "I see. And... did you ever... participate?"

"...Yes." The redhead closed his eyes, not wanting to see the look on Robin's face. "I did a lot of dumb things I'm not proud of, Dick. By the time summer came around when I was thirteen, I regretted it all, and I would have taken everything back if I could have."

Hesitating for a moment, Robin intertwined his fingers with Wally's, as if to remind himself that his best friend was there, warm and soft and _alive_. "What other things did you do?"

The speedster winced, "Rob-"

"Please," he whispered, "I need to know."

Wally nodded slowly, "I drank. That was mostly from peer pressure. I tried IV drugs once or twice, but they made me feel so awful that I stopped... Mostly I was there for the sex." Robin felt like he couldn't breathe. The redhead had a thinly veiled expression of pain. "At first it was just girls, I was too afraid guys would hurt me, but then I let one, and then another... I liked it. I knew it was wrong, they were all strangers and a lot older than me, most of them were jerks, but for a little while I felt like...I don't know, like people _cared_ about me."

He shook his head at his naivety. "It took getting drugged and nearly gang-raped during a stupid Spring break party before I saw that they were just using me. I was thirteen then and I hated myself. I... I wanted to die."

Robin's breathing hitched, and he squeezed his eyes shut tight, "...Go on."

Now it was Wally's turn to comfortingly rub the younger boy's hands. "It was early in the Summer, about two years ago. School was out, both of my parents were shopping. I had a couple of bottles left over from the last party, I knew they would get the job done... I swallowed about one and a half of the containers' worth before I heard my Mom knock on the door and tell me we are going to Aunt Iris's house. I'd forgotten it was her birthday." He knew his love for her had saved him that day. "I just... panicked and stuck my fingers down my throat to bring them up. By the time we got there I felt sick still, so Uncle Barry told me to go sleep it off in their room-"

"That was the day you found out he was the Flash." Robin recalled, a quiver in his voice. He never knew that there was so much more to that story than he'd actually been told.

Wally nodded, "I wanted to be a hero and save kids like me from losing their sisters or getting hurt by people they were supposed to trust." He sighed softly. "I didn't think about going through with it again after I became Kid Flash. It was never more than a passing thought. I had a purpose..."

Feeling like he needed time to digest everything he'd learned, there was only one other thing Robin still wanted to know, "Do you still feel that way, Wally? Like you want to hurt yourself?"

"Sometimes." He admitted, feeling a stab in his heart when Dick's eyes went wide with fear. "Not nearly as often, though. You make me feel like I have a reason to keep being strong. I have friends now, and a new family, and you alone have given me more than I can possibly explain." He pulled the younger teen against his chest, hugging his trembling body. "I love you."

Robin's arms had a vice grip around Wally's waist.

He probably should have been a bit more gentle, but everything he'd just been told made him realize how hard it would be if his best friend suddenly wasn't there anymore.

But... how could the redhead think any of those things would actually be breakup worthy, though? As ashamed of it as Wally might have been, the brunette wasn't about to get upset with him over mistakes he'd made while he was in so much pain.

Robin had been suffering, too, lately, and Wally had supported him through it all.

"I have abandonment issues," he whispered tearfully, looking up into those deep green orbs. "I don't think I could let you go even if I wanted to." The brunette then pressed his face against the speedster's shoulder, his heart breaking in his chest as he wondered why he hadn't seen how much his best friend of over two years had been hurting. How had he never _noticed?_ He didn't realize he was shaking until Wally's good arm wrapped around him, holding him impossibly closer. "Please... don't leave me."

Burying his face in the acrobat's silken hair, the redhead felt that anxiety in the pit of his stomach disappear. Robin didn't hate him for everything he'd kept hidden. Adoration for the truly amazing younger boy flooded his heart. "Okay," he choked out, "I won't."

Despite not knowing where to go from there, Wally at least knew one thing.

He wouldn't be alone.

* * *

 **This was way more dramatic than I intended it to be, and not like I planned for it to turn out AT ALL, but I started writing it immediately after posting chapter 20 and couldn't stop, so congratulations, two updates in less than a day.**

 **I'll reread this in the morning and fix any errors I see, but right now? I'm going to bed. Thank you for all the positive feedback and be sure to let me know what you thought of this chapter!**


	22. A Fresh Start

**All My Friends Are Superheroes**

 **Summary** : Being a teenaged hero is no walk in the park; juggling school, homework, superpowers, friends and family can be tough, especially when you and your secret boyfriend are tiptoeing around teammates, parents and mentors. However, sometimes in life you have to just stop worrying, and let the stones fall where they may. It might not be that bad, after all. Season 1. AU/OOC. Birdflash.

 **Point Of View** : Third person's POV, set in past tense/story format, with dreams/thoughts italicized. The focus will mainly be on Robin and Kid Flash, of course, but I fully plan to further explore their interactions with the team, and also with their JLA mentors. Story starts after the team has been established, right after the end of their first official mission together.

* * *

 _"I arise from dreams of thee in the first sweet sleep of night, when the winds are breathing low, and the stars are shining bright." - Percy Byssthe Shelley_

* * *

It had been just over a week since he'd left home.

Seven days had passed since Wally made the decision to move into the cave, with Conner and M'gann. They'd asked questions at first, of course, and were understandably concerned by his injuries. He felt touched. Sure, they were friends, but he hadn't realized how much they'd cared.

His bruises were all completely gone, his ribs were mended, and he would be able to get the cast off his arm in a week or two, while his leg was already healing up pretty quickly.

Dick had wanted him to stay in Gotham City at first, but the idea was just too weird. Even after the hugging and crying up on the Watchtower, the others didn't know they were together, although Superman seemed to have his suspicions, but he said nothing.

Another reason was that he still wanted to go to school. Wally hasn't dropped out yet and he certainly didn't plan on doing so. His mother was staying with Aunt Iris and Uncle Barry (so were his fish) until she could find an apartment, preferably with two bedrooms so her son always had the option to return to Keystone. Despite Batman's insistence, they decided not to press charges against their abuser, if he was ever found. They didn't need him in prison to be finished with him. They'd packed up all of their most important belongings and taken them. That house hadn't been a home for a long time.

Living at the cave wasn't all that bad. It was big, and despite living with a telepath and a guy with superhearing, he had plenty of privacy.

Wally was unpacking a few more boxes his mother had sent over when he heard tapping on the frame of his open door, and turned to see Artemis standing there with a long rectangular box that he must have left in the hangar.

 _Great._

The redhead plastered on his best smile and headed over to her, "Hey Arty! What do you think of my room? Way better than it was before, huh?"

"Cut the crap, Baywatch," she said shortly, though her eyes did scan the posters decorating his walls with interest. "Are you ever going to tell us what the heck's been going on? Everyone's talking about it behind your back."

Narrowing his eyes at her, Wally snatched the package out of her hands, "Thanks a lot, but I think the point of gossiping is that the person it's about _isn't_ supposed to know."

She was such a hypocrite - not one person on the team actually believed she was Green Arrow's niece at this point, and yet _he_ was the one who needed to open up?

Artemis sighed, seeing the defensiveness rolling off her sort-of-friend in waves, and knowing she'd gone about it the wrong way. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. Listen, Wally, if you're in some kind of trouble..."

"You'll be the second person I tell, Huntress." He said sarcastically.

The blonde looked confused, "Second? Who-" her face suddenly went pale, and hearing her cut herself off, the speedster turned to see the Vietnamese girl staring at him. "Why did you just call me _Huntress?_ " She demanded, her voice rising half an octave in panic.

"Whoa, take a chill pill," Wally held his hands up, wondering why she suddenly looked like she was going to pass out. "It was just a nickname, like you calling me Baywatch a second ago?" She looked baffled and he sighed in disappointment. "Your name is _Artemis_ , you're an archer... You know, like the Greek goddess of the _hunt?_ I thought you'd like it."

She let out a weak, almost relieved chuckle, "Oh. Well... If you must give me a nickname, I prefer Arty." He grinned and she smiled back, "Seriously though, Wally, I know I give you a hard time, but if you ever need to talk..."

"Thanks, Artemis."

Watching her leave, he felt a little less annoyed with her than he had before.

Looking at the package, he set it down on his bed and picked at the tape, frowning. He'd thrown away anything sharp he had when he decided to start fresh. Too lazy to go look for a box cutter or scissors, he pressed his fingertips to the seam of the tape, vibrating his hand.

It ripped right down the middle from the tremors, and he blinked, "Oh, that is really cool."

"Agreed."

Wally spun around, and a huge smile broke out on his face as he zipped across the room and pulled Robin into a tight hug, plastering his face with kisses, and the younger boy laughed softly, "Miss me?"

"Definitely," the redhead muttered, burying his face in his boyfriend's soft, silky black hair, breathing in the scent of his shampoo. "I know it's only been, like, three days, but it's still too long. Bats gave up any right he had to you when he let us form the team. You're ours now."

Chuckling at the possessive affection, the acrobat returned his favourite speedster's embrace, "I missed you too. So, what's in the box?"

"No idea," Wally replied, eventually releasing him. "My mom didn't label anything, I just hope it's not embarrassing." He turned around and headed back over to the bed, pulling apart the folds of the box. "Oh!"

Robin frowned and peered curiously over his shoulder, "What is it?"

"My first love."

The ninja raised an eyebrow, "Please tell me your mom didn't send you a human corpse." He said dryly.

Wally snorted, "Haha." He reached into the box, and pulled out...another box. Specifically, it was a black rectangular leather case with a steel handle and clasps, a passcode lock, and was just _slightly_ smaller than the package it had come in.

"So, what is it?" The brunette seemed like he seriously wanted to know.

Grinning in a mischievous way, the Metahuman walked over and acrobat's the lock on his bedroom door, watching it glide shut. He turned to face his confused boyfriend once more, and reaches out, drawing him into his arms, "You sure? Because once you know, you can't _un-know_."

"C'mon, KF, just tell me what's in the case!" Robin pouted at him, and it was possibly the cutest thing he'd ever seen in his life. He loved that the younger boy let loose and didn't act like the mature grownup he wanted to be seen as when they were alone. He wasn't afraid to act silly, tell stupid jokes, or be adorable. That was true friendship right there.

He pretended to think about it for a minute, unable to pass up the chance to screw with Rob a little. "Well, I don't want to corrupt your innocence anymore than I already have..." The black haired boy rolled his eyes. "Okay, fine, it's a BDSM kit." He lied, his face perfectly straight.

Robin stared at him, nose scrunching up in confusion, "What's that mean?"

 _Oh crap._

"...Nevermind." Wally said quickly, rubbing the back of his neck with a blush, "You're probably too young to know about that anyways."

The younger teen put a hand on his hip, "Seriously? Okay, now you have to tell me what you meant, even if it was just a joke. Then you can show me what's in that box."

Yeah, he'd screwed _himself_ over alright.

"Alright, come here," He pulled Robin a little closer, whispering in his ear, not missing the way the ninja shivered softly. Grinning, he told him _exactly_ what bondage was, which he would probably end up going to hell for.

Jerking back to look at him with a bewildered expression, the boy blurted out, "You're _kidding_ me."

"Nope."

Robin seemed completely shocked by the new, and quite frankly _disturbing_ , information. "Why would anyone willingly _do_ that?" Sure, he understood what sadism and masochism were _supposed_ to be, but the thought of mixing things like sex with physical violence and restraints and...other stuff, well, it sounded pretty messed up. It was too hard to comprehend.

"Beats me, it's really not that fun unless you like that sort of thing." Wally shrugged, grimacing and rubbing his wrists without realizing it. Rope burn was a pain in the ass, pun _completely_ intended.

The acrobat immediately realized what Wally was saying, "You've done it before, haven't you?" When the redhead looked at him sheepishly, he felt jealousy ignite inside of him. "So, what? You... tied someone up and had sex with them?" His tone was flat, annoyed. While he knew the other boy had been with people before him, he didn't have to _enjoy_ the idea.

"What? No!" Wally looked distinctly uncomfortable now, his face heating up. "But I, uh, might have let someone do it to me...once."

"Oh..." Robin shoved his hands into his pockets, "So, tell me more about it. Not about your one time," he added quickly after seeing his expression, knowing Wally didn't like to talk in detail about his 'hookups.' "Just in general..."

There was honest curiosity in his voice.

A playful smirk appeared on the speedster's face, "It requires some creativity. Just close your eyes and I'll help your imagination fill in the blanks." He was so glad he'd soundproofed his room already. Thank God for vinyl top threshold with aluminum casing, rubber and adhesive weather strips. The last thing he needed was the others getting on his case for corrupting the 28-week-old Superboy.

Robin frowned suspiciously but gave a nod and closed his eyes anyways, not that you could really tell with the shades on.

Quietly moving about the room, Wally placed his hands on the brunette's shoulders from behind, impressed when he didn't so much as tense up. He curled his arms around Robin's waist, pulling the boy back against his chest, and leaning down to speak in a whisper to him, "Some people enjoy being blindfolded during sex."

"Why?" The dark-haired boy suppressed a shudder when Wally's lips brushed over his ear.

Chuckling, Wally ran his fingertips down the younger boy's bare arm, watching as little bumps broke out across his skin. "Because studies show when one sense is blocked, the others are sharpened. So if you can't see, everything else works at double capacity. Hearing, smelling, tasting... _feeling_." He started kissing his way down the ninja's collar slowly.

Ignoring the feeling of the redhead's mouth against his neck was exceptionally difficult, especially because Wally _knew_ he was sensitive there, and enjoyed taking full advantage of the spots that made Robin go weak at the knees. "Do you know why they like being tied up?"

Robin swallowed, silently shaking his head so he wouldn't stutter, and he felt the older boy smirk against his flesh. The speedster's hands suddenly closed around his wrists, gently pulling them behind his back and holding them there. "Alright. Just imagine we're both naked right now."

Pfft. As if _that_ was hard to do.

"Now, pretend we're already all worked up," the hand Wally wasn't using to hold the boy's wrists together moved around to the front of Robin's body, sliding up and underneath the front of his shirt, hearing his breath hitch at short nails began lightly skimming up his belly. "I have you tied up on my bed, completely _helpless..._ " He purred.

The brunette let out a soft gasp when warm fingertips teased one of his nipples, pinching it gently. "That means I could do whatever I wanted. Kiss you-" Lips were moving down his neck again, "Bite you-" He nibbled at the teen's pulse point, causing his heart rate to increase, and the younger boy shifted his weight, blushing as all the teasing began to arouse him. "And you wouldn't be able to stop me... If you even _wanted_ to."

A hand suddenly cupped him between his legs, drawing a quiet moan from Robin, who started squirming when the speedster began to rub him through the material of his sweatpants.

"I could take you however I wanted. Hard and fast," The hand slid down into his underwear, wrapping around his hardening length, giving a few languid strokes. "Or slow and _sweet..._ "

Robin let his head fall back against the older teen's shoulder, " _Wally..._ "

He started to pant lightly, trying not to focus on the images in his head while having a difficult time really even thinking straight. Wally was pulling them back abruptly, sitting on the bed and yanking Robin down, causing him to make a noise of surprise when he was dragged into his boyfriend's lap. He had his back to the redhead, and wanted to huff impatiently at the sudden ceasing of his actions, when Wally softly squeezed his restrained wrists, and lifted his non-broken leg sharply.

"Nnnngh!" The boy let out a loud keening sound when the speedster's knee pressed up between his legs, forcing Robin to straddle it, and putting pressure right against his swollen member.

"I could tease you as much as I liked, even if you didn't want it..." He curled an arm around the brunette's upper body, pulling him right back against his chest so he was leaning on him, and purposely started rubbing the younger boy's clothed cock with his knee, ignoring the small whimpers and gasps he was releasing. "You'd be totally at my mercy, and if I decided not to have any... I could play with you until you couldn't take it anymore." He nuzzled the acrobat's throat, running his tongue over the collarbone before biting down suddenly.

Robin moaned out loud that time, his hands balling up into fists behind his back, breathing in short gasps as his head spun from all of the sensations. His boyfriend was _infuriatingly_ good at this.

"Mmm... What a nice little sound," Wally murmured, soothingly running his tongue over the red mark he'd just made, "I think I'll do that again." He bit down and sucked hard, listening to his boyfriend cry out in response, wanting to make sure he'd leave a decent-sized reminder behind.

"O-Okay, Wally. I think I get the picture." The teen tugged against the hold, groaning when the speedster merely pressed his leg more firmly against his crotch, rubbing in a tantalizing manner. "You can... _ahhh_...let go of me now."

Smiling, the redhead slid his tongue along the shell of Robin's ear, sending a shudder racing down his spine. "Maybe I don't _want_ to," he spoke in a deep, lust-soaked voice, watching as the younger teen began unconsciously rocking himself down on his boyfriend's knee, whining at the friction. "What if I want to keep going just like this, touching you _aaaaall_ _over_ until you're _begging_ me to make you come?"

"Do it," Dick quickly replied, cheeks now flushed a deep rosy shade, soft pants leaving his parted lips, "Please, Wally, I-I want you." They hadn't been together since about a day before their last mission, which was less than two weeks ago, but for a pair of horny, attractive teenagers that could feel like _years_.

A grin appeared on Wally's face, and he put his leg back down, turning the brunette around in his arms and cupping the back of his head before guiding him into a deep kiss.

The younger boy was quick to return it, twining his arms around the speedster's neck and leaning forward, tilting his head slightly to deepen it, licking at the seam of his boyfriend's mouth, silently pleading for entry.

Chuckling in the back of his throat, Wally willingly parted his lips, curling his tongue around Robin's as he held the younger boy even closer, surprised and amused by how obviously turned on he was, if the way he kept shifting in the older teen's lap and tugging at his pullover was any indication.

"Someone's eager," he murmured as he reluctantly broke away for air, quickly dragging the sweater up and over his head, tossing it aside. The redhead could never get enough of Robin's lips. What a lot of people didn't realize was that the boy had a sweet tooth, maybe from growing up in the circus, maybe from having a butler at home who was an amazing baker. Whatever the reason, he always smelled and tasted... _delicious_.

Robin mock-glared at his boyfriend, lifting his arms up to assist Wally as the older teen slid off his t-shirt. "Are you telling me that you _aren't_?" He asked skeptically, "Because I'm pretty sure it wasn't _me_ molesting _you_ in the shower after training last month... _Oh.._." He moaned softly, arching his back as the speedster began peppering his chest with kisses, licking and sucking at his nipples.

"A-Ah... _Wally..._ " The acrobat panted as he brought a hand up to the back of the teen's head, running his fingers through those silken orangey-red locks, gripping it tightly whenever he gently bit down on the sensitive flesh, pulling his boyfriend's face almost right against his chest so he wouldn't stop teasing him there.

It was only when his foot brushed against something solid that he looked down at the Metahuman's fibreglass encased-leg and realized a glaringly obvious problem. "Uh, Wally?"

"Hmm...?" The speedster hummed absentmindedly, continuing to kiss his way up Robin's neck without pause, nibbling at his earlobe as he continued to tweak the brunette's nipples lightly.

Struggling not to just lose himself in the delight of his lover's wonderful actions, Robin placed his hands on the older teen's shoulders and began to push him back, "W-Wally, _stop_."

His firm (if not shaky) tone of voice caused the redhead to freeze, immediately lifting his head to look at him, anxiously. "Rob? What's wrong? Are you okay? I didn't hurt you, did I?" He tilted the boy's chin, eyeing the multiple hickeys and wondering if he'd been too rough.

"Wally - KF, I'm _fine_." The ninja reassured him, "But I think we forgot about something." At his confused look, Robin sighed, "You have a broken arm _and_ leg, remember?"

He frowned, "Of course I remember, it's kinda hard to forget about. But what does that-" he cut himself off suddenly, and deflated, " _Ohhhh..._ "

"Yeah," Robin agreed, equally disappointed.

Suddenly, the fifteen-year-old cocked his head to the right, eyebrows drawn together, "Well, wait a minute. That doesn't _necessarily_ mean we have to stop." He gave that bright, lopsided grin of his. "We'll just have you on top, problem solved!" The older boy seemed pleased with himself until the brunette's face turned bright pink. "Is that okay with you?"

"Um, I don't exactly have anything against, I don't know, _trying_ it. But..." Robin bit his lip and looked away, "I sort of thought it would happen later. I mean... we've never...switched before, and I'm not really sure what to do. I don't want to _hurt_ you." He seemed on the verge of a panic attack.

Wally looked baffled for a moment, before he realized what was happening and laughed. He quickly explained when Robin gave him an upset look, "That's not what I meant, Dick. I mean, I don't have a problem if you _do_ want to try topping me sometime, I'm all for versatility, but that's not what I was referring to..." Now the brunette was the confused one, "I don't understand."

"Right," the redhead tried to think of how to get describe it. "Remember how on the first night we were together we talked about comfortable positions?" The ninja nodded, he'd never forget anything about that night. "Right, well positions can either refer to what you thought I was saying, or they can mean _that_. In this case, when I said "on top," I was suggesting we do the same thing as usual, but with me laying down on my back and you sitting on me, if that makes sense?"

Robin looked thoughtful for a moment, possibly trying to picture it, and then his expression cleared. "I _think_ I get it. Would trying it that way be hard?" The speedster smirked and he whacked his (good) arm, "Perv! You know what I mean."

"It's actually supposed to be one of the easier positions."

He smiled and leaned forward to peck a freckled cheek, "Then let's do that."

Wally very quickly went back to what he was doing before, trailing feathery-light kisses across the brunette's jaw and sucking at his Adam's apple, drawing a breathy whine from Dick as the brunette fumbled to unzip his boyfriend's jeans, being sure to brush his fingers over the erection straining against his navy boxers, making him growl lowly in that shiver-inducing way.

Pulling the younger boy into a long, passionate kiss, he murmured, "You drive me crazy, you know that?" He pulled off the teen's sunglasses then, "I want to see those beautiful blues of yours, Babe. You sure you wanna do this right now?" Something he quickly figured out was that it was impossible for either of them to hide their emotions from one another if they could look into the other's eyes.

In response, Robin got off of Wally's lap, and proceeded to shed both his underwear and sweatpants in one fell swoop, feeling less and less self-conscious about his body every time he watched the raw desire pass over his boyfriend's face.

 _He's gorgeous, just like Ganymede._

The brunette frowned, "Who?"

"...Did I say that out loud?" The speedster's face reddened when the younger teen nodded, "Oops. Uh, well, it's...kind of stupid. Just forget it."

Robin frowned when Wally looked away, and the acrobat strutted back over to him, climbing back onto his lap - completely naked - and began tugging the edge of his boxers down. "Tell me," he whispered, peering up at the redhead from beneath his lashes, "Please?"

 _...Holy shit_ , Wally swallowed hard, "It's so not fair when you do that." He murmured, drawing the younger teen into another breathtaking kiss, and ducked his face into the boy's shoulder, not exactly _proud_ of his geekiness.

But if Dick _really_ wanted to know.

"Ganymede was a young Trojan Prince in Greek mythology. He was said to be one of the most beautiful mortals the King of the Gods, Zeus, had ever laid eyes on." He blushed harder, distracting himself from his embarrassment by helping to pull down his last article of clothing. "In fact, the Olympian was so enchanted by him that he transformed into an eagle and took Ganymede up to the heavens in order to make him his immortal lover, and the cupbearer for the Gods. He eventually modelled the constellation Aquarius, the water-bearer, in his honor."

Sapphire eyes softened at the compliment - whether or not Wally realized that it was one - and the brunette smiled, pressing his forehead against the suddenly shy speedster's, "Thank you. Now, lay down."

Shuffling backwards on the bed, Wally slowly laid back, pulling Robin with him so the brunette was straddling him, knees on either side of his hips. The younger boy flushed, blinking down at deep green eyes. "So, uh, how does this work exactly? Do I just put it in and-"

"No!" Grabbing him by the hips so he wouldn't move, the redhead looked at him with shock, while Dick was frozen, a deer-in-headlights expression on his face. "Rob, you can't just... _jump on_." Both boys blushed a little at his words. "You'll hurt yourself, we haven't had sex in, like, two weeks. Here..." He fumbled with his bedside drawer, pulling out a little bottle and handing it to the ninja.

Robin made a face. He knew preparing was necessary and all, but it took so long, especially when he _needed_ Wally like he did currently. As in, right _now_. While he appreciated the redhead trying to be careful and making sure he was comfortable, he was rather impatient. He frowned down at the container, eyebrows furrowing. "'Strawberry Flavoured,'" he read incredulously. " _Why_ does it need to be flavoured?"

The older boy gave a slight shrug, "Some of that stuff's non edible or they just don't like the way it tastes." He was putting on a condom, which they didn't tend to do a lot anymore despite the first time. Mostly this was because they were spontaneous and rarely happened to have the stuff they needed on them when they got frisky, but since it was early in the afternoon and he actually had some on hand... Well, it meant less cleaning up afterwards. "They come in all sorts of flavours and colours."

" _Okaaay_ , but _why_ would someone even _try_ eati-" He stopped, seeing the look on Wally's face, and then he glanced down at the bottle again. Dick's entire face suddenly felt like it was burning, "O-Oh... Uh, nevermind."

Wally watched as his boyfriend fidgeted, playing with the bottle in his hands. He held his hand out to take it, and the brunette looked quite relieved as he surrendered the item. He knew Robin still wasn't 100% comfortable with his body. They'd had a conversation about it when, one time, the speedster had told him to touch himself and he'd completely lost interest in sex.

Now, he didn't think the younger boy was Asexual or anything, it mostly seemed like - if he had any other option - masturbation was just overall unappealing. The redhead had met people like that before, one girl who called herself a "Demi" flat out stated that she had no attraction to anyone she wasn't romantically involved with, and she couldn't get off on her own because she had no desire to fantasize about strangers. Now _that_ had been a weird night...

He briefly considered asking the brunette about that, but the kid was already kind of confused in that department, and he didn't want to make it worse. The right thing to do was let him figure out what he identified as.

"You know what's funny about what I told you earlier?" Wally asked as he uncapped the lubricant, looking up into those oceanic blues.

"What?"

He grinned, "Zeus is also known as the God of thunderstorms and lightning bolts." It took a moment for the "funny" part to sink in, and when it did Robin rolled his eyes and flicked him in the ear.

"Honestly, KF, you have to be the single _biggest_ dork I've ever- _Ahhhh!_ " he cut off with a long groan when he felt cool, slick fingers sinking into him from behind, making him grit his teeth. It didn't really hurt anymore, but the stretch still felt _intense_ , in a good way.

In the _best_ way.

Wally licked his lips in concentration, considering it was a little more difficult to prep a person when one-armed and not being able to see what he was doing, but soon he was working two lube coated fingers past Robin's tight ring of muscle, watching as his eyes fluttered shut and his mouth fell open slightly the further in he pushed them.

"Does that feel good, Rob?" The speedster asked when the acrobat started breathing more heavily, tilting his hips down as he began to rock gently against the fingers that were stroking his inner walls.

The brunette mewled softly when his boyfriend reached out to wrap a lightly vibrating hand around his cock, giving it a few teasing tugs. When the older boy eventually pressed a third digit inside, Robin gripped the bedsheets tightly, arching his spine sharply when those fingers brushed over his prostate torturously. " _W-Wally!_ " He whispered hoarsely, "I...I need you, please."

Eyes sweeping over his boyfriend's face, the redhead nodded and slowly eased his fingers out of the ninja, "C'mere, I'll help you," he took a strong hold of Robin's hips, while the younger teen held onto his shoulders, lining up with Wally's erection and slowly lowering himself down, gasping quietly when he felt himself being entered.

 _Ahhh..._

Soon, the speedster was fully sheathed inside the darker-haired boy's lightly trembling body, giving him time to adjust.

Robin could _definitely_ tell the difference with the new position, it was allowing for a _much_ deeper penetration. After a few moments, he tried shifting his hips experimentally.

 _Hnnnnngh_ _!_ The acrobat bit his lip. _Oh God, it feels so good._

Looking down, he realized he wasn't the only one impatient to start. Wally was gazing back up at him through half-lidded eyes, lips pressed tightly together with the effort it took not to move. He had a bruising hold on the younger boy's hips, which was ironic because it seemed like the marks from last time had only just disappeared completely.

A throbbing between his legs made Robin breathe out, "I'm ready, Walls." He smiled as he affectionately spoke the nickname he'd given his best friend almost immediately after they'd first met. It had been a long while since the last time he had used it.

Giving a slight nod, the redhead tightened his grip on his boyfriend's hips even more, supporting his weight while the younger boy slowly lifted up, and then without pausing slammed himself back down.

They cried out in unison, Dick more from the shock of it all. He hadn't expected the surge of pleasure that went directly up his spine. He tried to remember how to move his legs, which felt unusually weak at the moment, to lift himself up again. Fortunately his boyfriend, though already nearly buzzing with excitement, was happy to help, and _somehow_ between the moan-inducing friction and breathless, frantic non-kisses, they managed to work up a rhythm that was satisfying for both of them.

"Hah...ah... _Fuck_ ," Wally swore as he lifted his hips up into each of Dick's downwards thrusts, listening to every gasp and groan he managed to elicit from the boy. "You have no idea how _hot_ you look like this, Rob."

Dick's dark, cloudy blue eyes fluttered open at his words, and he looked down at the redhead with a glassy expression that said he wasn't really _seeing_ anything in front of him. He knew Wally was talking (he always was), but he couldn't _focus_. His hands were gripping tightly onto the speedster's shoulders, using him for support as he lifted himself up and down, releasing a high-pitched whine when his boyfriend reached up to toy with his nipples.

Then, a tremor ran down the older boy's back and he smirked, knowing exactly how to get the other teen talking again. He stilled beneath him, ignoring the sound of protest, and let the energy build up before suddenly releasing it, allowing the strong vibrations to pass through their connected bodies.

" _Ahhh!_ " Dick's eyes went wide as his arms suddenly gave out, and he collapsed on top of Wally's chest, struggling to right himself and crying out when the redhead gripped his upper arms and drove him down harder onto his length, the new angle sending sparks shooting up his backside and hitting against his sweet spot. "W-Wally," he choked on his boyfriend's name, sweat trickling down the side of his face as he began rocking his hips desperately, panting from the effort it took to keep going.

A soft smile was on the speedster's face as he arched his back the best he could, broken leg be damned, sliding up his arms to wrap around Dick's back and pull him down even more, their chests touching, allowing him to crush his mouth against the brunette's, kissing him passionately. "Talk to me, Babe," he managed, knowing the acrobat often tried to keep quiet during sex out of embarrassment. Wally personally thought the fact that he was a screamer was hot as hell, not caring if it went against his stoicism training or whatever. "I wanna hear you sing, Little Bird."

"That feels _amazing_ ," Dick finally whimpered, bringing his hands up to run them through his raven locks as he moved up and down, something he only did when it was getting to be too much for him. "So good... I-I _can't-_ " he gripped the bedsheets, twisting them between his fingers and whining in pleasure.

Ignoring the slight pain, Wally pushed himself into a sitting position, holding his boyfriend close as the inferno between them blazed hotter. He licked at the sweat running down Dick's neck, bracing a hand against the boy's spine to shove him back down onto his aching cock, the only sounds in the room was the soft squeaking of the mattress and their own noises of lust.

Dick's hips were stuttering at this point like a finicky truck's engine, his thrusts growing erratic as he threw his head back with a squeal when Wally slipped a hand between them, fondling his genitals as he kissed along his pale throat.

"Oh God! ...nnnngh..."

Because of how competitive they were, it was always a contest to see which of them could make the other come first.

Wally's experience and utter lack of shame usually put him at a notable advantage, but Dick was a pretty fast learner with excellent... _ahem_...muscular control, plus he'd recently discovered his boyfriend had a _tiny_ pain kink, enjoying feeling the brunette bite a little at his neck or scratch his back in the heat of the moment, or even tug his at hair.

But in the end, none of those things mattered much when your lover was, essentially, a human vibrator who wasn't afraid to play dirty.

Upping the ripples between them as much as possible without pushing himself over the edge, Wally continued to quickly pump the younger boy's cock, and brought his lips to his ear, "Jesus, _Dick_ , I can feel you squeezing me..." he purred, knowing how crazy it made Robin when he talked like that to him. "You're so fucking _tight_ around my cock. If I didn't know any better I'd swear you were still a virgin."

Dick was visibly struggling to hold on by now, gasping silently when the redhead nibbled at his neck, responding by fisting his hand tightly in Wally's hair, shaking as he felt sharp spikes of electricity going through him, his stomach clenching and heat travelling up through his thighs and ass, trying (and failing) to ignore the voice in his ear.

"My sweet, blushing virgin..." The speedster cooed softly, "Can still remember how sexy you looked pinned to my bedroom door, all horny and flustered as I touched you." Wally was breathing raggedly now, fighting off his oncoming climax. "I was the first person to ever touch you... and I'll be the _last_." It sounded more like a promise than he'd intended, but the thought of someone else being intimate with his boyfriend made fury curl up inside him. "You're _mine_ , Dick," he suddenly whispered harshly into the ninja's ear as he fucked him deeper, faster, his words punctuated by every gasp for air. "You got that? _Mine_. If anyone else even tries to touch you... I swear I'll break them in half!" He bit down on the teen's earlobe without thinking.

At first Wally felt he'd probably taken their little "contest" too far. He was kind of the jealous type, and while he tried not to let it show much out of fear of pissing off the kid who was far more capable of taking care of himself than anyone gave him credit for, he'd meant most of what he said entirely.

It seemed to be the possessive tone in which the words were spoken that drove Dick over the edge though, because before the redhead knew it the younger boy was clawing at his back and sobbing into his collarbone from the pleasure, spasming violently in his arms as though he were having a seizure, and then he came _hard_ over Wally's still gently pumping hand with a strangled cry.

Feeling his boyfriend's muscles clamp down around him like that was too much, and Wally pulled Dick away from his shoulder to kiss him roughly as he followed right after, giving a few more jerky thrusts before falling back onto the mattress with Dick still clutched to his chest.

They were both silent for a moment, trying to catch their breath and slow down their racing hearts.

Eventually, Wally (having a quicker recovery rate for obvious reasons), managed to push himself to gently slide his softening member out of his half-conscious boyfriend. He was slowly building up stamina for it, but sex tended to take a lot out of people in general, to say nothing about sex with a Meta in the middle of the afternoon after crime fighting until all hours the night before.

He pulled the condom off and tied it before tossing it out, slipping into the little adjoining bathroom that all the rooms had. They had baths though, and the team generally preferred showers so they mostly went unused, but the redhead was for once grateful for them.

Wetting a washcloth with warm water, he returned to the bed and lovingly wiped his boyfriend down, "Rob?"

"Hmm?" The brunette sleepily responded.

"If we don't want to make anyone suspicious, I'll have to open the door. I know you're tired, so... I'm sorry about this." He turned on the speed and used it to straighten up the room, spraying it with "clean linen scent" to erase the smell of sex, change his bedsheets and redress them both, adding one of his own sweaters to Robin's attire to cover his neck. Miraculously, the boy didnt even bat an eye, merely smuggling down into the newly made bed.

Wow, he must have been exhausted.

Debating whether or not to carry the ninja to his own room and claim the boy had fallen asleep playing video games with him after a long night in Gotham, he decided to simply climb in next to Robin and cuddle him close for an afternoon power nap.

They were best friends after all, even before officially getting together it wasn't unusual to find the two asleep together.

Wally smiled and pressed a kiss to his temple, "Love you, Rob."

* * *

 **Well, it's nearly three thirty AM and I'm tired, so...here you go. As usual, I'll look when I wake up for spelling/grammar mistakes to fix, but I hope you enjoy the unchecked version anyways!**

 **The next two chapters will cover the Red Tornado family, team bonding (sort of), Robin's past since I've had a lot of focus on KF lately, bullying, and a long overdue first date.**


	23. Bullying

**All My Friends Are Superheroes**

 **Summary** : Being a teenaged hero is no walk in the park; juggling school, homework, superpowers, friends and family can be tough, especially when you and your secret boyfriend are tiptoeing around teammates, parents and mentors. However, sometimes in life you have to just stop worrying, and let the stones fall where they may. It might not be that bad, after all. Season 1. AU/OOC. Birdflash.

 **Point Of View** : Third person's POV, set in past tense/story format, with dreams/thoughts italicized. The focus will mainly be on Robin and Kid Flash, of course, but I fully plan to further explore their interactions with the team, and also with their JLA mentors. Story starts after the team has been established, right after the end of their first official mission together.

* * *

 _"A young outcast will often feel that there is something wrong with himself, but as he gets older, grows more confident in who he is, he will adapt, he will begin to feel that there is something wrong with everyone else." - Criss Jami_

* * *

Dick really didn't get the point of school.

He had nothing against kids getting an education, honestly. It was just the way it was all set up that bothered him. Whoever had the _brilliant_ idea of cramming all of society's naïve, bored, aggressive and sexually-frustrated youth into one location for six and a half hours a day, five days a week and roughly one hundred and eighty-one days of the year (depending on where you lived) must have been seriously deluded if they thought it could lead to anything but trouble.

It wasn't that he _hated_ Gotham Academy...

The freshman just found it a difficult environment to be in. Considering he wasn't a "blue blood" like the rest of the kids there, he didn't exactly fit in.

Sure, Bruce Wayne was wealthier than most of those kids' families combined, but it didn't matter to the snobs when he was _adopted_. His peers had made sure school had been a living hell for him ever since the news hit the stands that one of the most famous American playboys had decided to extend his philanthropy to sad, circus orphans.

Bullying hadn't been new to the then nine-year-old when he was enrolled in a private middle school in Gotham Heights, the northern part of the city. He'd experienced a milder form of it as part of the Flying Graysons. Several members of their troupe didn't appreciate the fact that his mother, Mary, hadn't been born as "one of them," rather, she'd become a Roma through marriage to his father. Because of that, he'd been called names behind the backs of his family members. While they knew some of the visiting Roma of whatever town they were performing in at that time could be judgemental, none of them (except his cousin, Johnny) had been aware that he was being given a hard time by their own supposed "friends."

Even when they tried to be discreet, young Dick could still hear the hushed whispers.

Comments about his unusual blue eyes were frequent, as well as his pale skin. No doubt about it, from the day he was born he'd stood out amongst a sea of darker-skinned brown, green and gray-eyed Romas. People speculated as to where his appearance came from - some knew that his mother was an American, but they still insisted she must have had German ancestry to pass on the complexion she did to her child.

As a young boy he had never understood the reason why he was so disliked by others. He didn't like to ask his mother about it because she would look so sad, and then simply tell him that his eyes were beautiful, inherited from his grandfather who he'd never gotten to meet. All he knew was that most of his childhood was spent hiding his eyes out of fear he would be mocked for them, and later he wore a mask to protect his identity. Despite the compliments he occasionally received, his eyes had just been one of many things he hated about himself.

Wally had been the one to change that.

That the red-haired boy had honestly seemed to like them came as a welcomed surprise. In fact, one of the first things the speedster had told him upon revealing that he'd already seen Robin's face was that he had pretty eyes. It might have been just an offhanded opinion to him, but Dick had held the words close to his heart. Now, every time his boyfriend traced them with his thumb, or asked to see them or compared them to something in a way that was just as corny as it was poetic, he felt a little less self conscious about what other people would think.

One of the bright sides to attending school with others was that no one care what he looked like anymore. Blue eyes were as common as green, gray, brown, black and hazel. He was no longer the palest person in any given room, and certainly not the most ethnic-looking. The prejudice for his race may have ended the moment his career as an acrobat had, but it didn't mean that he was no longer ostracized for simply existing.

When he was little, it was lonely being the only child his age among a group of elders, grownups and teenagers. What he didn't know back then was that kids were _evil_. Even if they could be mean, the people of the Roma community were never borderline sociopathic towards someone they felt didn't belong.

It hadn't been so bad at first.

Just the occasional unkind remark or disapproving stare. Once he entered the ninth grade, it became substantially worse. Due to his home schooling, he had already had an advanced education. His parents and extended family members had taught him everything they thought he could possibly need for the future. By age eight he was multilingual - having been immersed in a combination of English and Romanian by his family from birth, as well as versed in French and Hebrew thanks to his honorary grandmother, Ashra. He also knew enough of the Romany language to understand phrases, stories and terms of endearment used around Haly's.

Now, to the adults in Bruce's world, being fluent in four languages, starting high school at the age of thirteen and being an honour roll student _and_ a mathlete was considered impressive. But to a bunch of older spoiled brats? Not so much.

The first time Dick had gotten body checked into a locker, he'd assumed it was an accident. Being younger and shorter than everyone else at school, he was bound to get overlooked at times. But by the end of week one at Gotham Academy, it became quite clear that his peers did not find his presence welcome.

He did his best to ignore it, avoided the worst of the offenders. A few bruises in addition to the ones already littering his body was no big deal to him. The insults, no matter how used to them he got, were infinitely more damaging.

He had been trained by Batman, so the "don't fall" jokes or being called an orphan, a street rat, and a Gypsy didn't bother him (the last one least of all - they may have known what it meant but they didn't understand, and he'd heard it so many times it rolled right off his back). It was the cracks about his family that hurt the worst. Jabbing him was one thing, but bringing people they didn't even know into their nasty versions of fun simply pissed him off. It was sickening to think they found it so funny.

But no one talked about his parents.

That _included_ Bruce.

* * *

 _"You're the electron to my proton; I just can't resist your pull."_

Oh God, Wally was such a _nerd_.

He was always texting him sciencey pickup lines, to which Dick would laugh and respond with a mathematical one. They were ridiculous and more often than not one of them had to explain what they meant to the other, but it never failed to put a smile on his face.

The brunette was so distracted by the cheesy text that he didn't notice some jock sticking his leg out until it was too late, and he was tripping over it, falling hard onto the ground, his phone flying out of his hands and sliding across the tiles.

"Oops!" He snickered along with his fellow footballers, who proceeded to fist bump him. "Guess I forgot to watch out for whiny little orphans on the loose!" They laughed some more as Dick scowled and began to stand up and brush himself off.

"Better be careful, man," one of his buddies said, speaking just loud enough so the freshman could hear. "Don't you know that circus freaks are carries of all kinds of disease? Maybe you should get a shot!"

Gritting his teeth to bite back a snide reply, the brunette went to reach for his phone, only for it to be grabbed by a tall and gawky brunette boy, also wearing a football jersey. They were one of the few exempt from the strict dress code. "Is this yours?" He held it out.

Dick stared for a moment, wondering if he should be suspicious. Jocks were never nice to him. But, then again, he didn't recognize this guy. "Thanks," he eventually muttered, pocketing the device quickly.

"Hey, Jokumsen!" Called out Craig, the quarterback, one of the most popular guys in school. "What are you doing with that reject? We know we called you a loser before, but c'mon - even you can't be _that_ desperate for friends."

A cheerleader hanging on one jock's arm called out, "Yeah, like, didn't you hear Joey? You might get infected!" She said dumbly while all her friends laughed.

He recognized the boy now. Nikolai Jokumsen. He'd been an unpopular older kid when Dick was in middle school. Almost as hated as him. He was also shy and quiet...then he'd had a growth spurt over summer break. Now he was almost as tall as the juniors.

Even if they didn't like him, it seem Craig was determined not to let any footballers associate with the least popular kid in school.

Nick flushed at his supposed teammates' jeering, but otherwise ignored them. He looked at the younger boy, "I've seen you around Gotham before, at those dumb socialite parties always going on. You're Richard Wayne, right?"

"It's Grayson, actually..." Dick said quietly, letting his guard down a fraction. Obviously Nick wasn't a jerk like the others. Yet.

"Right. Hey, listen, I was wondering if you wanted to be study partners this week? For the big quiz coming up?" They were both in Honors Math, even though it was technically a sophomore level class. "Everyone knows you're the best at Gotham Academy."

Dick was speechless for a moment. The dark haired boy was looking at him hopefully, glancing nervously at his "friends" by the lockers, but otherwise ignoring their narrow-eyed stares.

He was trying to think of how to respond when Craig came marching up, rudely elbowing his way between the two boys. "You trying to ask the freakshow out on a date, Nicky? I didn't take you for a fag."

The footballer's face went red with mortification, and his gaze dropped to his feet, "I-I wasn't... I mean I wouldn't! I'm not..."

"Yeah," Craig sneered, "I didn't think so. Better get going, Jokumsen. Your mother will get worried about you. Say, is she still the Sunday school teacher at Brighter Baptist Church across town?" He was smiling, but there was a distinct threat in his voice.

Nick looked just plain terrified then, and he shot Dick an apologetic look, mumbling under his breath before darting away. It looked like height didn't equal bravery. But considering what a massive asshole Craig ccould be, he couldn't blame him.

The senior turned to smirk down at the adoptee, smugly.

"What do you want, Craigslist?" Dick asked scathingly. The nickname was coined due to the older boy always smelling like a noxious bomb of cheap perfume from his many girlfriends. Did he have to chase away every potential friend of his just for laughs? Did he not have enough people to screw with without targeting the walking "bully me" sign?

"Oh, nothing," Craig slipped an arm around the boy's shoulders, "I was just curious about old man Wayne. Tell me about him."

"What do you want to know?" Dick stared distainfully at the offending limb.

A wicked grin appeared on the seventeen-year-old's face, "You know, just if he lets you sleep beside him when he's done fucking you?" When the brunette went rigid, he chuckled. "I knew it! You're his bed warmer. It would explain a lot - the adoption, how you sometimes have bruises you try to hide, the fact that he pulls you out of school at random for days at a time. Plus he's always going on dates but he's still not married."

Dick was frozen with horror, a sick feeling washing through him. "You...you can't actually think-"

"Aw, the little guy's traumatized." Craig's friend Jesse appeared beside him, "Poor thing. How long after you moved in with him did he wait to start screwing you, Grayson? Two days? Three? Don't try to deny it, everyone knows that's the _real_ reason why he took you in." They stared at him with false sympathy, expressions mocking. "You _were_ only nine. You probably felt like you owed him, right?"

"Shut up!" The freshman suddenly exploded, drawing quite a few stares. "You have no idea what you're talking about! Bruce isn't like that, he would _never_ hurt me!"

He felt ill just thinking about it.

"We're just trying to help you, Grayson." Craig said a little louder, smirking at the mortified blush appearing on the boy's face. He was obviously taking delight in his fury and embarrassment. "After all, if you're going to have a sugar daddy, it shouldn't be some creep who makes you bend over and spread your legs just because he pulled you out of the system."

Dick's face felt hot with humiliation as a couple dozen students stared at him with judging gazes, radiating everything from pity to curiosity to disgust. He could spot Babs and even Bette among them, which just made it all that much worse.

"What is going on here?" The hall cleared as Mrs. Evans, the vice principal, made her way through. "Mr. Matthews, Mr. Dunham, Mr. Grayson - is there a problem?"

"No Ma'am." Jesse replied in a sweet voice, "Craig and I were just asking if Dick wanted to attend the game this Friday. Go team!"

Her eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly, "I see. Off you go then."

The two quickly headed to their next class, and when Mrs. Evans turned to Dick, her expression softened slightly. "Are you feeling unwell, Richard? You look a little pale this afternoon."

"I-I'm fine, Mrs. Evans." The boy quickly responded, shaking off the shock as best he could to reassure her. When she raised an eyebrow, he added, "Really, it's just been a long week so far."

"Alright, but if you do start to feel bad, don't be afraid to speak up and have your teacher send you to the nurse." She gave him a smile before starting to leave.

He forced a smile before she left, "I will."

Despite feeling queasy the rest of the day, Dick didn't go to the nurse.

* * *

The thirteen-year old barely made it through his last couple of classes, he couldn't stop thinking about what the jocks had said. Judging from the looks he'd been getting all afternoon, at least a few people though it was true.

Dick hadn't realized he'd been zoning out until he felt a hand gingerly touch his shoulder, making him jump nearly a foot.

Looking up with wide eyes, he saw his AP Chemistry teacher, Mr. Bradley, standing beside his desk with a worried expression. He was Dick's favorite teacher by far. The guy was kind and caring, not to mention he loved what he did and obviously tried to make it fun for the whole class.

"I-I'm sorry, Mr. B. What was the question?"

The blonde man frowned slightly, searching the boy's face carefully, looking concerned. "I didn't ask you a question, Dick. I was trying to get your attention. Class is over."

Hearing that, the young teen looked around and saw that everyone else was gone, and judging by the quietness of the halls, school had ended some time ago. "...Oh."

Well, that wasn't awkward at all.

"Are you okay, Richard?"

Wincing, the brunette stood up and began to gather his items. "I'm fine, Mr. B. It's just been a long day, that's all. I should go to sleep early tonight." He hated lying to the nice teachers when it was obvious they were worried about him.

Mr. Bradley didn't seem entirely convinced, "If you say so. And Richard?"

He paused at the classroom door, looking back, "Yes, Sir?"

The man smiled, "I know the older kids give you a hard time, but try not to let it get to you, okay?" His kind, hazel eyes met the bright blue ones. "I was a loner in high school too, so I know what I'm talking about when I say that it _does_ get better. You're destined for great things, but there's nothing wrong with asking for help. If you ever need to talk, my door is always open."

A warmth passed through Dick upon hearing that. He hadn't thought that there were any kindred spirits at his school. Sure, everyone knew Mr. B had lost his parents in a house fire when he was young, but he didn't talk about it.

Knowing he had someone in his corner made him feel better.

Dick nodded his head in thanks before slipping out into the hallway.

* * *

The dark-haired boy knew something was very wrong when he returned home from school the next day to find a strange man waiting for him with Alfred, who had a confused and concerned expression on his face. Standing beside him was someone he hadn't seen in s while but recognized instantly.

"Allie?" He slowly set down his bag, feeling a tightness in his chest. "Is something going on?"

Alyson Chance was his social worker. She had been the one responsible for helping Bruce with his adoption process, and also getting him out of the hell that was the Gotham Juvenile Detention Center.

She looked just as he remembered - petite, pale brown hair parted on the right, wearing jeans and a blouse with her heels, nails painted red and perfectly filed. Her face was serious, green eyes lacking their typical spark. Dick could see a hint of concern there.

"Hello Richard," he immediately knew it wasn't a simple check in. She never called him that. Gesturing to the seat across from her and the suited man, she continued, "Would you mind sitting down for a moment?"

Doing so, he felt the dread continuing to creep up on him, "Who's this?"

"This is Mr. Reynolds."

He immediately disliked the man when he leaned forward, his expression almost too friendly, as if he was about to speak to a very small child. He handed Dick a card. "Here, Richard. I already gave one of these to Mr. Pennyworth, but I think it's a good idea for you to have one too."

Frowning, the teen accepted the stiff piece of paper, peering at it.

Instantly, his heart began to hammer.

 _Gregory J. Reynolds. Child Protection Worker. Division of Family and Youth Services, New Jersey. Call 658-2873._

This man was from DFYS.

He knew there could only be one reason why they were at Wayne Manor. Someone had overheard Craig and Jesse harassing him in the hallway yesterday and believed their unfounded and, quite frankly, sickening, accusations. They probably told a teacher who was then obligated to report any concern.

"I don't understand." Dick stated, looking at the card. Feigning ignorance would be best until he knew more. "There's never been a Child Protection Worker here before..."

"Well, that's because we've never had any reason to come here before." Mr. Reynolds said in an almost patronizing tone, making his eyes narrow.

Allie winced, knowing that Dick was far too mature to be treated like just any young teenager. "We were actually discussing with Alfred - er, Mr. Pennyworth, how it would be best if we waited for Mr. Wayne to arrive."

"I've already tried alerting him to our company, Master Dick. But it appears he is in a meeting at the moment." Alfred's tone and expression were neutral, but the boy knew exactly what he was saying. "Perhaps you could retreat to your room and attempt to contact him in his personal mobile?"

Dick was instantly in his feet, "Spunds like a great idea, Alfie!" He looked between Allie and the stuffy man in the suit. "I'll be right back!"

He was gone before either could protest.

* * *

Batman was updating the security features on the Watchtower's main computer when he heard footsteps running up behind him.

His first instinct was to attack, considering no one was even supposed to be on the orbiting satellite and he had most of the alert systems asleep while he added in the new programming.

If it weren't for his incredible reflexive control he might have hit his own ward by mistake.

Dick's appearance was a surprise.

For one, he wasn't technically allowed up there. The first and last time had been a special case considering his best friend was critically injured. But he'd been in costume then. It was a good thing the boy had known he would be shutting off the surveillance cameras, otherwise he would have been considerably more angry at him showing up undisguised.

But he knew as soon as he glimpsed the thirteen-year-old's face that something was very wrong.

His eyes were wide, panicked, and he was still in his school uniform. The vigilante had only seen that expression on his face a handful of times - the most recent one being when he arrived home after Kid Flash had rescued Robin from being assaulted.

"Dick, what's wrong?"

The boy was actually trembling, and he began to speak so fast his words ran together, making it rather difficult to understand. All he caught were the words "yesterday," "Alyson," and "DFYS."

It was the last word that caught his attention.

Pulling back his cowl, Bruce reached out to put his hands on the teen's shoulders, "Deep breaths, Buddy. I want you to calm down and tell me everything that happened, slowly, okay?"

Dick inhaled deeply and nodded.

Closing his eyes, he recounted everything from yesterday. The footballers taunting him and threatening away their teammate, their accusations of sexual exploitation, and then coming home to find Allie and a child protection worker waiting for him. He also surrendered Mr. Reynolds card.

By the time he was finished, his father figure's expression was nearly unreadable.

Nearly.

Dick had learned how to decode Bruce's 'Batman faces' over the years though. The ever so slight clenching of his jaw and the way his eyes darkened a bit were dead giveaways to just how angry he was.

The man honestly felt physically ill at the thought of anyone believing he could harm a child - _especially_ his child - in such a way. Last month it had taken everything he had in him not to kill the son of a bitch that tried to rape Robin, and now someone had likely accused him of doing just that to his own son.

While they shared no blood, Richard Grayson was Bruce Wayne's son in every non-biological way possible.

He was silent until said son spoke in a voice that cracked with the raw fear he was desperately trying to suppress, his voice borderline hysterical, "T-They're going to put me back in the Juvie center, aren't they?" It was no wonder he was afraid though - the last time the city had sent him to that place, the older boys (all underaged thugs) had beaten the crap out of him.

Both Bruce and Batman alike would let that happen when hell froze over.

* * *

None of the three residents of Wayne manor relaxed until the social workers had left the premises.

Bruce knew the threat behind Mr. Reynolds polite exterior was very real. They had explained the accusations, which was worse to hear the second time around even after processing it already, but of course told him the tip was anonymous and they couldn't divulge much information.

He'd showed them the parts of the manor they wished to see - the bedrooms, kitchen, etc. While Dick had the right to refuse to answer their questions, he cooperated with them as best he could, explaining that the athletes from his school occasionally gave him a hard time, and any suspicious bruises he might have had were because he missed his parents and kept up gymnastics and acrobatics in their memory.

That had convinced Allie, but she said they'd be in touch once the investigation was concluded. Her own actions showed that she didn't believe the allegations nearly as much as Greg.

Bruce was proud of his ward for remaining tough after a near interrogation from a man who appeared to be pressuring him to give them evidence, until he saw the aftermath of their visit.

Once he'd spoken with Alfred he went back to check on Dick, and found him curled up on the couch by the fireplace, knees drawn to his chest with a white knuckled grip on the seat cushion, staring blankly ahead.

God, not again.

It was the same expression the kid had on his face whenever he was thinking about certain events - his family's murders mostly, but after his kidnapping experience and the night terrors, that expression began to return.

Even though the man had never been anything more than, at times, unreasonable or emotionally distant with his son, it was clear that being asked dozens of invasive questions and being accused of having been sexually assaulted by his mentor (just weeks after an actual attack by a real criminal) had set back his recovery again.

Remembering the night that Dick had finally told him exactly what happened in Malibu still made a coldness overtake the billionaire.

He didn't give a damn how intelligent his boy was. At thirteen-years-old he shouldn't even know what it _meant_ to feel violated. Now he did, and even if he'd hidden perfectly from the social workers, it definitely brought up the memories he'd likely been suppressing.

Dick, in many ways, was still a child, and he didn't deserve anything he was going through.

The nightmares started up again later that night, and eventually he ended up calling Wally on the mountain to see if he could calm his son down over the phone. The boy had begged to come to Gotham, but Bruce turned him down.

As much as he wanted his son to have peace, he was beginning to think that help from a professional would be required. More than once had the man considered hiring the best out there and paying them to keep silent about their identities just so the sidekicks could have someone other than Black Canary to turn to.

He really didn't know if allowing Wally to keep coming over in the middle of the night to comfort his son was helpful or not. Would it mean Dick could never get proper rest again without having the speedster nearby? Either way, he needed to do something, because continuing on this way for weeks a second time was just going to wear the boy down physically and mentally.

The father in him just wished that for once there was a simple solution.

* * *

 **More drama coming up in the next chapter, so stay tuned!**


	24. Autumn Melody

**All My Friends Are Superheroes**

 **Summary** : Being a teenaged hero is no walk in the park; juggling school, homework, superpowers, friends and family can be tough, especially when you and your secret boyfriend are tiptoeing around teammates, parents and mentors. However, sometimes in life you have to just stop worrying, and let the stones fall where they may. It might not be that bad, after all. Season 1. AU/OOC. Birdflash.

 **Point Of View** : Third person's POV, set in past tense/story format, with dreams/thoughts italicized. The focus will mainly be on Robin and Kid Flash, of course, but I fully plan to further explore their interactions with the team, and also with their JLA mentors. Story starts after the team has been established, right after the end of their first official mission together.

* * *

 _"I strongly believe that love is the answer and that it can mend even the deepest unseen wounds. Love can heal, love can console, love can strengthen, and yes, love can make change." - Somaly Mam_

* * *

Robin was _exhausted_.

He had been sleeping horribly all week. Not only was he terrified that they'd hear back from children's services, but when he actually did manage to fall asleep he would have nightmares.

It was frustrating because he thought after a month of therapy and talking to Wally and Bruce that he'd finally gotten over what Pyotr had tried to do to him.

But life was never that easy, was it?

He technically didn't need to go to Mt. Justice today, but he wanted to. Seeing Wally and the others would cheer him up, help him get his mind off of...everything. Hopefully the energetic speedster could wear him out with his chatter and hyperactivity and he could get some rest...

The smile on his lips faded when he exited the Zeta Tube, only to hear yelling coming from the living room. A crash sounded, and he took off running.

What he found made him freeze in the doorway, Batarang in hand.

Standing in the center of the room, couch pushed off to the side, was Superboy - with Wally sitting on his shoulders for some reason. Across from them were the two boys from the hotel that had patched him up. Matt, the redhead, was sitting on the shoulders of the blonde teen (Mello).

They appeared to be attempting an interactive dance game on the Wii, with their own little... _twist_.

Off to the side were Roy and Artemis, who still didn't like each other too much, but they had identical looks of annoyance on their faces. Near was laying on his stomach on the couch, playing with some X-Men figurines. M'gann was in the kitchen with the new girl - Sushmita - and so was Kaldur, who had a resigned expression.

His first thought was: _what the heck is going on?_

Robin then wondered how the cave had gotten so crowded so quickly. At first he figured the League had forgotten to assign them their weekly den mother, but they he remembered Green Arrow was meant to be in charge.

It looked like he'd dropped off his apprentices and snuck away, though.

Probably meeting up with Black Canary.

Making his way over to the kitchen, he addressed Kaldur, "What happened?"

The Atlantean rubbed his temples and sighed, "The Flash dropped Kid off a gift - the newly released "Just Dance 2", and he insisted upon playing it. Sushmita advised against doing so on his injured leg, and he in turn asked Conner to be his feet."

Huh. Maybe sleep deprivation had made him snap and he was hallucinating all of this.

Since when did Wally and Comner get along anyway?

"Oh, Robin!" M'gann floated over to him suddenly with a metal pot, "I'm glad you're here!" She said cheerfully, and shoved a spoonful of... _something_ , in front of his face. "I'm trying out a new recipe! Would you?"

God help him.

It wasn't that Miss M was a _bad_ cook, but she didn't have the same sense of taste as humans... Hence most of her dishes turning out charred. Or green and fuzzy. Or inedible. But she seemed so excited, and it was hard to disappoint her.

He noticed Supey glance in his direction worriedly. Even though he was a Kryptonian clone, he wasn't oblivious to his girlfriend's...interesting meals.

Knowing his stomach was never going to forgive him, Robin hesitantly took the spoon and tentatively tasted the concoction. Everyone who had noticed their exchange was holding their breath, and M'gann stared at him with anticipation.

 _...Whoa._

"This is amazing, M'gann!" He said, trying not to sound too surprised. It was warm and spicy but not overly so, with a variety of flavours he didn't typically taste together. Somehow they worked though. Everyone else seemed shocked and/or relieved. "What _is_ it?"

A delighted squeal left the Martian as she telepathically set the pot down before pulling him into a tight hug. "Oh, I'm so glad! Sush showed me how to make it. It's called 'coconut milk vegetable curry.'"

Robin glanced at the Indian teen, and she discreetly winked at him, "I have no problems teaching you more of my country's recipes, Meg." Her returning with a nickname seemed to indicate the two girls had started to become friends at some point. That was nice - Artemis had been complaining that they needed more females on the team. "Perhaps we can attempt the baking of pastries tomorrow?"

"That sounds great!"

"I'm glad everyone seems to be getting along... more or less." By this point, Wally had somehow coerced Matt and Roy into a threeway dance-off, declaring it a "Battle of the Reds." The song was "Firework" by Katy Perry, and oh, was it ever a sight to behold.

Still, he was glad he hadn't stayed home.

* * *

Three hours later, Green Arrow returned with a goofy smile on his face.

No one asked where he had been, they were almost certain that they didn't want to know.

Soothsayer and Miss M had been cooking up a storm all afternoon, using anyone they could as a taste tester, and the others had finally been asked to give the Wii a break when the sheer volume nearly caused a cave in.

Robin was sitting in the hangar, watching Wolf and Savannah - Sushmita's pet Bengal tiger - play wrestle one another, while Sphere seemed to take on the roll of a referee.

Despite never seeing anything quite like it...he was kind of bored.

A familiar set of arms suddenly curled around his waist from behind, a chin resting on his shoulder, "Too noisy back there for you?"

He gave a slight shrug, "I guess."

The redhead was in front of him then, sweeping him up into the air, one arm behind his knees and the other behind his neck, holding the younger boy to his chest. "Want me to take you somewhere a bit more peaceful?" He seemed a little nervous for some reason, which in turn put the brunette on edge.

"Where? Wait, should you _really_ be running on that leg?"

Chuckling softly, the speedster pressed his cheek against Robin's, plucking his shades off of his face. "You realize you weigh less than my first bicycle, don't you, Boy Wonderful?"

He huffed, but smiled. Wally was so playful and happy despite everything that had happened in the past couple of months. It was impossible not to soak up the sunny aura he left behind. "Alright, just as long as you have me back before ten. You know how Batman gets."

There was a twinkle in his boyfriend's green eyes, "Oh, we're not going _that_ far. Close your eyes." He knew Robin still wasn't quite used to his speed, and the last thing he wanted was to make the boy motion sick... _again_.

"Okay..." He did so, and there was a rush of cool wind before he was being set on his feet, "We're here, Rob."

Robin opened his eyes and frowned in confusion. Why were they at the beach? They could go there anytime, and it was too cold for swimming at this point. "I don't understand..." He admitted, confused, before spotting something a few feet away.

The boy's breath left him suddenly, "Wally?"

Laid out a few feet from the tide was a big plaid blanket, and atop it was a woven picnic basket and a vase with a single rose in it, coloured in splashes of red and yellow, giving it an almost orange tint. He somehow knew without even asking that it was meant to represent the two of them.

"I've been thinking a lot about...us, lately." Wally began as he took Robin's hand, leading him over to the blanket. "I'll admit, I always thought picnics were lame, but before we got together I promised to take you on a real date. It seemed wrong not to keep my word. I knew that with us being on call anytime we're not in school it would be hard to plan something in advance, but picnics are pretty quick to make and the beach is beautiful all year round. So I thought - dinner and a sunset, why not?"

The redhead peered sideways at him and sighed, "You hate it. I should have known - what kind of teenage boys go on _picnics?_ I'm not very good at this whole romance thing." He fidgeted and opened the basket, pulling out a bottle, "Look: Apple cider! Red wine was recommended, but I'd rather Batman not throw me off the Mountain for getting you drunk."

When Robin was silent, Wally bit his lip, "Look, if you want to laugh at me, I'd totally get it."

That made the brunette snap out of his daze, he blinked and stared at his boyfriend in confusion. _Why would he laugh?_

"Dick," the speedster began, desperately, not realizing his boyfriend's lack of reply was due to being robbed of speech by the gesture. "I know we both wanted to start...getting physical, but I feel like I haven't been very good at showing you that that's not all _this_ -" he gestured between the two of them, "-is. We're not Romeo and Julian, or whatever the male form of Juliet is. They were naïve, horny kids that mistook lust for something more and got a whole bunch of people killed. But I _love_ you. You're like...like my own personal star, shining just for me. You light up my sky when it's at its darkest, and... I would run to the ends of the Earth and back again to make you happy."

He stopped, and then smacked the palm of his hand against his forehead, "That sounded so _stupid_. See? I told you I suck at these sorts of things. Maybe this was a mis-Mmmph!" He was cut off when the younger boy suddenly leaned forward and seized the front of his shirt, dragging him into a long, lingering kiss that made time seem to stand still.

"Wally," The raven-haired acrobat murmured as he eventually pulled away, "You talk _way_ too much. This... This is...the sweetest, most thoughtful thing anyone's ever done for me."

He seemed shocked for a moment, before his whole face brightened with happiness, "I-I'm glad you liked it. My mom helped me out," he admitted, a bit shyly. "You've been going through a rough time the past few days and I thought this might help you relax. It's cool, nice and quiet..."

"That it is," Robin agreed softly as Wally handed him a cup of the cider, listening to him hesitate before saying, "I want to know more about you."

Pausing with the cup inches from his lips, the ninja cocked his head to the side, "Like what?" They were best friends and a couple, they knew more about each other than everyone else on the team _combined_.

"Well," the redhead began, "How about where you're from, for starters. I know you travelled Europe and North America a lot, but... you're not actually from anywhere around here, are you?"

As he spoke, the older teen pulled the basket open again, revealing the (mouthwatering) contents; mango chutney, cheese and crackers, finger sandwiches, a mini pumpkin pie, and those little shortbread cookies with the raspberry filling that he knew the acrobat loved.

"...No." Robin confirmed after a moment of silently nibbling on a sandwich, contemplating how to respond for a moment. His boyfriend may not have directly said it, but the brunette understood. He wanted to know more about his life before becoming the Boy Wonder.

It would explain his cautious expression. He didn't want to upset him by asking about his past. Eventually, the thirteen year old looked up from his food. "I'm originally from Transylvania."

Wally blinked in surprise, "You're Romanian?"

He inclined his head slightly in reply, "I was born in a city called Sibiu... I was very young when we left, but I remember it was beautiful, old... the architecture was kind of Gothic." That was one of the reasons why Gotham's atmosphere didn't bother him so much, he speculated. "My mother was a dancer, she didn't start travelling until after she married my father. Dad was born in England, but her family was American. They met when Haly's Circus arrived in Boston. It was love at first sight."

The speedster personally thought the love at first sight thing was bull. If it was real, it seemed rather shallow to fall for someone based solely on physical appearance. Just like in Shakespeare's play. But Robin looked so wistful, and sad, he chose to keep it to himself. Bursting his bubble would have been mean.

"My ancestors were Lovari Roma people, they migrated from Hungary. When other members of our community would refer to me as a "half-blood", my father would often tell me that it didn't matter that Mom wasn't born one of us, because she was a Roma now. He always reminded me that I was a true Romany no matter what they said to me."

"Roma?" Wally blinked in confusion, "You mean, like Gyp-" he stopped short, remembering that the term was considered racist to some people, and glanced apologetically at his boyfriend, who smiled and shrugged. "The word Gypsy doesn't offend me, so don't worry. Most of us are used to it, even if it's incorrect. It was based on the mistaken belief that we originate from Egypt, which isn't true, by the way. Romas came from northern India originally, but they settled all over Europe."

Casting his gaze up to the sky, which had been dyed vibrant shades of red, orange, yellow and pink, Robin took a thoughtful sip of cider, happy to realize that talking about his background didn't hurt as much when he was with Wally. "My father was an atheist, but he still followed all of the old traditions, because it was how he was raised. My mother was Catholic, and she had me baptized when I was very little, but we didn't go to church as much as she would have liked, or spend a lot of time focusing on the holidays. We were always so busy with practicing and then with performing."

Seeing the almost lost-in-thought expression on Robin's face, Wally smiled and decided to take over, not wanting to accidentally bring up any painful memories. "My parents were non-practicing Christians. I'm more on the fence, agnostic I guess you'd say... On one hand there's nothing scientifically proven about the God most people think of, on the other hand... We're friends with a Martian, a test-tube alien clone, and a merman. Plus I've met psychics, magicians, clay people, evil robots, telepathic gorillas and superpowered mutants. If magic is real, who's to say what else is out there...?"

The brunette chuckled, "Thinking about it all could make your brain explode."

"Pretty much."

Although it was nice to think of an afterlife, that someday everyone good would get to see their loved ones again. Wally would have honestly loved to believe that his sister was watching over him, and that the Graysons had Dick's back up there, and that Uncle Barry and Aunt Iris would get to see their mothers again one day. He wasn't sure he believed it, but he liked the idea.

The teenaged heroes ate their dinner in comfortable quiet for a while, eventually Robin ended up in Wally's lap, leaning back against his chest, while the redhead combed through his hair, the two of them watching the sunset disappear and the stars light up the night sky.

Both of them were starting to get sleepy and considered heading back inside when Wally suddenly remembered something, and told Robin to wait for just a moment before disappearing.

True to his word, he was back in under five seconds, a familiar leather case in his hands.

Seeing it made the brunette chuckle, "Oooh, the mystery box."

"Not anymore." Wally stated as he sat down in front of Robin, scrolling the lock to its code - his sister's birthday - and opening it. The younger boy couldn't contain his surprise, "You play guitar?"

The redhead nodded slightly as he lifted the instrument out. It was sleek, star-shaped, and a glossy black and blue. "She's a Rosa Hurricane Stratocaster." He proceeded to explain some of the details to him. It was manufactured in the 1980s, in Australia, as an electric guitar with an amplifier, designed for mainly heavy metal and rock, but it could have pretty much anything played on it. "I named her Lucy."

Robin stared at him, "You _named_ your guitar?"

His boyfriend smiled at him as he played a few notes, testing it. "Sure, after my love of music and astronomy." Seeing the 'I don't follow' expression on Robin's face, he chuckled and explained, "There's this huge white dwarf star that was discovered in the constellation Centaurus, called BPM 37093, or the V885 Centauri. It was nicknamed 'Lucy' by the media, after the Beatles' song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," which is either about a kid's drawing or an LSD trip, who knows. They named it after that because a diamond consists mainly of crystallized carbon and so the star itself is, essentially, a sun-sized diamond in space." He looked up to see Robin staring at him, making him a bit self-conscious. "...What?"

"Nothing," Robin replied, not bothering to keep the awe out of his voice. Sometimes he forgot just _how_ intelligent Wally was until he went and said something like _that,_ as though it were perfectly common knowledge. He was always clever, yes, but sometimes he was _more_. "Would you play me something?"

The speedster smiled slightly, "That was the plan, though I'm slightly out of practice...any preferences?"

He shook his head, "Whatever you feel like."

Wally thought for a moment. There was a song he had in mind that made him think of Robin, especially in the last month or so. It was by Jesse McCartney - and, alright, he wasn't a huge fan, but he'd gone through a phase when he was younger and memorized a few songs. The guy had talent. "Okay."

He closed his eyes then, positioning his guitar properly, glad he didn't need his amp for this one. Robin watched as he began to strum a few notes, but was surprised when Wally started to _sing_ , which he never thought the redhead could do.

 _"Staring out at the rain with a heavy heart._

 _It's the end of the world in my mind._

 _Then your voice pulls me back like a wake up call._

 _I've been looking for the answer, somewhere..._

 _I couldn't see that it was right there._

 _But now I know what I didn't know."_

If he hadn't expected the speedster to sing, then he certainly hasn't expected him to be _good_. His voice had already started out sweet and soft, but became higher and lighter as he began playing the Stratocaster at a quicker pace as the first chorus came.

How was it possible for Wally to be good at so many things? Would he every stop making Rpbin feel like his heart would jump out of his chest whenever he looked at him?

God, he hoped not.

 _"Because you live and breathe..._

 _Because you make me believe in myself when nobody else can help..."_

Wally's eyes opened then, and those deep green eyes seemed to reach into his soul.

 _"Because you live, boy, my world..._

 _Has twice as many stars on the sky."_

Robin could feel his heart begin to beat faster, fluttering, which happened a lot around his boyfriend, but never like _that_. He knew Wally was singing about him, and the realization made it hard to process all of his emotions at once. The intensity of that stare made him blush, but for once he didn't feel self conscious.

The older teen slowed down his guitar playing once the chorus was finished, a smile touched his lips as he remembered Robin visiting him at the Watchtower and, later, on the Mountain after he was injured. He and Batman had saved his life that night.

 _"...It's alright, I survived, I'm alive again._

 _'Cuz of you, made it through every storm._

 _What is life? What's the use, if you're killing time?"_

He leaned forward, the next few words coming in a deeper, breathier tone, drawing his voice out with practiced ease.

 _"I'm so glad I found an angel, someone..._

 _Who was there when all my hopes fell..._

 _I wanna fly lookin' in your eyes!"_

He picked up the tempo on the last few lines before flowing back into the chorus once more.

 _"Because you live, there's a reason why..._

 _I carry on when I lose the fight._

 _I want to give what you've given me, always."_

Wally was actually surprised (but relieved) that Lucy sounded as good as she did when he first got her, considering he hadn't tuned her in a while. There was no noticeable distortion.

At the very least, Rob seemed to be enjoying his little performance.

 _"Because you live, and breathe._

 _Because you make me believe in myself when nobody else can help._

 _Because you live, my world..._

 _Has twice as many stars in the sky."_

He increased and held the beat as his voice raised slightly.

 _"Because you live, my world has everything I need to survive._

 _Because you live, I live._

 _I live..."_

The redhaired boy was slightly out of breath by the time he finished. Despite the music instructor dude his mother had made him see during one of her many short lived hobbies, he'd been told he was gifted vocally. They'd labeled him a Lyrical Colotura Tenor. Whatever that meant.

Guitar and singing was fun, especially when he was alone and needed to take his mind off of stuff, but he always preferred academics over the arts. Looking over at Robin, he gave a hopeful little smile, "Well? Was I decent?"

 _Decent?_

Robin was damn near speechless, "Wally, that was incredible! I didn't know you could sing!" _Calm down. Just because he can play guitar and belt out high notes, I will not act like an infatuated preteen girl!_

Giving a little shrug, the speedster began to put Lucy back in her case. "I don't, not really. Mom wanted me to join a show choir in my freshman year, but that's like social suicide. I prefer science. It's fun to do once in a while... though not nearly as useful as doing a quadruple backflip over a sword-wielding maniac or hacking into the Justice League's central computer..."

He grinned when the brunette blushed, and moved closer to him, wrapping an arm around his waist and gazing upwards at the brilliant white specks decorating the sky. "This was a good idea after all," he whispered almost to himself, and turned to his boyfriend only to find him struggling to keep his eyes open.

"Looks like you could use some rest..." He carefully lifted Robin with one arm, balling up the blanket and putting it in the basket, sliding its handle and the strap of his guitar case over his shoulder before picking up his boyfriend, who shifted slightly, "Wally...?"

"Yeah?"

The brunette buried his face against the boy's neck, mumbling a soft 'thank you.'

Beaming, the speedster zipped back up the mountain and into the base, tossing all his stuff on his bed before heading for Robin's. He passed G.A. in the hall, who shot him a curious look but didn't ask.

All the others appeared to have crashed already, so there was no one to question their absence. Wally smiled as he set the boy down on his bed, and was about to duck out, when a pale hand caught the edge of his sleeve, and sleepy blue eyes looked up at him, "...stay?"

Heart melting at the look and tone, the redhead simply turned off the light and crawled in next to his boyfriend, pulling the blankets over them as Robin snuggled close. He didn't realize how tired he was until it was too late, and his vision went dark.

Midnight came, and a small light shone in on the two oblivious boys.

If the Batman thought there was anything strange about the way his young partner was cradled to his best friend's chest, with Wally's arms wrapped tightly around him, both soundly asleep... well, he for once ignored the voice in his head that encouraged him to in investigate further. Instead, he merely turned off the light and re-locked the electric door once more before heading on his way.

So long as his son was healthy, happy, safe, and sane, he didn't really care what the reason behind it was.

* * *

 **Another fast, but shortish, update! I was feeling inspired, though this chapter ended up being way more sappy than I intended. I hope it's good. Now time for me to get some sleep.**

 **Be sure to share your thoughts so far!**


	25. Words

**All My Friends Are Superheroes**

 **Summary** : Being a teenaged hero is no walk in the park; juggling school, homework, superpowers, friends and family can be tough, especially when you and your secret boyfriend are tiptoeing around teammates, parents and mentors. However, sometimes in life you have to just stop worrying, and let the stones fall where they may. It might not be that bad, after all. Season 1. AU/OOC. Birdflash.

 **Point Of View** : Third person's POV, set in past tense/story format, with dreams/thoughts italicized. The focus will mainly be on Robin and Kid Flash, of course, but I fully plan to further explore their interactions with the team, and also with their JLA mentors. Story starts after the team has been established, right after the end of their first official mission together.

* * *

 _"There are wounds that never show on the body that are deeper and more hurtful than anything that bleeds." - Laurell K. Hamilton_

* * *

It happened right out of the blue.

One moment the team was hanging out around the hangar, celebrating the fact that Res Tornado wasn't a traitor after all and that even though Zatara was angry he wasn't going to forbid Zatanna from possibly joining them someday, and the next moment Kid Flash was cursing and zipping out of the room so fast he almost ran into Matt.

"Uh, did I miss something?" The redheaded gamer asked with a frown. Even though he'd skipped out on their little rogue mission, he'd already decided on a codename for himself - Firewire.

The room had gone silent, and Robin looked around to see Soothsayer, Miss Martian and Near exchanging looks, which he knew met they were communicating silently.

 _Psychics_.

Zatara, Black Canary, Captain Marvel and Batman had also stopped their conversation, and the brunette noticed his mentor's gaze land on Artemis - who the speedster had been speaking with just moments ago.

She had a strange look on her face - shock and confusion, which soon morphed into guilt.

Robin scowled and marched over to her, radiating protective fury, "What did you _do?_ " He demanded, managing to somehow stare her down despite being a good couple of feet shorter.

"Me? Nothing!" Her back immediately went up like a cat's, her tone defensive. "We were just talking about the mission earlier, that's all!"

The angry little bird stood up on his toes to get in her face, jabbing her with a gloved finger, "You must have said something! Wally doesn't get upset like that for no reason! _Tell me!_ "

"Robin-" Batman began, noticing his protégé's temper rising, but it was to everyone's surprise that _Conner_ interrupted.

"Stop," Superboy stuck his arm between the two to keep them apart, "I'll tell you. She and Wally were discussing how Red Tornado stopped the volcano from destroying the atmosphere."

He narrowed his eyes at the Kryptonian, "That's it?"

The clone hesitated, before adding, "She also said, "Who knew Wally was capable of having good ideas? Especially two in one day!" when he bragged about knowing what needed to be done to prevent the eruption."

By now, everyone was staring at the trio, and Artemis shrunk slightly under all of the (unwanted) attention, "It was just a joke! I didn't think he'd take it so seriously. He's _Wally_."

His blood was practically boiling, knowing exactly why the older boy would have taken off.

"Yeah, he is." Robin agreed, flatly. "But you're too busy insulting him whenever you can that you forget he's not immune to your criticism. Unsurprising since you don't actually know _anything_ about him. I try to stay out of things that are none of my business," he continued, ignoring the shocked states from their audience. "I get you and he didn't get off to a great start, but Wally was one of the founding members of this team. Him, Kaldur and I went to Cadmus and saved Conner, _solo_. That means he's owed just as much respect as any of us, and you should learn when to shut it with the wise cracks."

God, he felt like a hypocrite. How many times had he insulted Wally's intelligence before they got together? Not even as a joke, either, but out of spite. He hadn't known it was causing him pain at the time, but that was still no excuse.

"Trust me, words hurt way more than an arrow ever could. You _don't_ want to learn the hard way what it feels like to push someone over the edge." If anyone heard the hidden meaning, they didn't show it, and with that said, the dark-haired teen left the room to go find his boyfriend, in case he did something he would regret.

Intelligence was a touchy subject for the redhead, which he'd learned after their first official mission and fight over leadership, something that started the chain of events leading to them getting together.

* * *

Robin considered checking the training room first, but decided against it.

Beating the crap out of inanimate objects was something he and Batman did when they were angry - running was what Flash and KF defaulted with when it came to cooling off.

However, Wally's still-broken leg meant he couldn't get very far without risking re-injuring himself, he had been ordered not to use his true speed unless it was absolutely necessary.

Keeping that in mind, the ninja headed to the Metahuman's bedroom. Angsty teenagers tended to hide away when they were upset but had nowhere else they could go.

"Wally?" He called out, a bit startled when the door slid open as soon as he approached it. The older boy normally kept it locked. Stepping inside, he found the redhead sitting at the edge of his bed, eyes shut, vibrating almost violently. He'd pulled the top part of his costume down to reveal his face. Sparks were flickering off of his skin.

Yup, he was definitely upset...

Standing there for a moment, hesitating, the thirteen-year-old inched forward, feeling his concern grow when it appeared that the speedster neither noticed his presence nor the fact that he was shaking so quickly that his form was blurring. It wasn't until he was a few feet away that he saw the blood trickling from his nose and down his upper lip.

"Hey! Stop that!" He rushed over, grabbing a handful of tissues from the box on his nightstand, and caught Wally's chin in his other hand, dabbing at the crimson liquid.

Wally's deep green eyes popped open and he caught the boy's wrist, "Rob? What the hell are you-" he stopped upon seeing the bloody Kleenex in his boyfriend's hand, and groaned audibly, "Aw, _man!_ "

"I'm guessing you weren't aware of what you were doing?" Robin asked softly as he wiped away the nosebleed.

The speedster sighed and shook his head slightly, "Of course not. Uncle B has been helping me try to learn intangibility, but I'm not supposed to try it without him supervising. He doesn't want me to push myself, there's still a lot we don't know about the Speed Force."

"You and Flash both talk about that a lot, but what exactly does it _mean?_ " Robin asked as he tossed away the tissues, then settled down on the bed next to his boyfriend, suppressing a smile when the older teen drew him close. Apparently his kind were naturally touchy-feely types, which was no surprise. He didn't mind - the ninja actually loved the warmth that his supercharged cells provided.

KF looked at him, frowning, "Batman never told you?"

The brunette gave a slight shrug, "I never asked. To be honest, I'm not even sure if he knows." He gazed at the other expectantly, "Do _you_ know?"

"I only know what Uncle Barry has told me." Wally finally told him, resting his chin on the acrobat's head. "Not all that much is known about it. Jay Garrick retired before a name for it even existed. What we do know tells us it's some sort of mystical energy field - a realm all on its own. It's the source of my powers, if all of ours. Before they died, Max Mercury and Johnny Quick had their theories. They thought it was some sort of afterlife for speedsters. Flash confirmed it when he accidentally used up too much of his juice and got absorbed into it. He managed to escape, but he told Aunt Iris and I that he could hear them calling to him, trying to warn him that if he didn't get out..." he trailed off, and shook his head.

Pausing for just a moment, the redhead looked down at the younger boy, "Fun fact about the Speed Force, you know about Zoom, right?" At his nod, the teen continued, "Well, Barry's and my connection to it are more...permanent. Even if we lost our powers, our DNA was permanently changed by the electrified chemicals, meaning we always have the potential for super speed in us down to a molecular level. Zoom wanted to stop Flash from existing and changes the timeline by going back in time to kill him, but ended up murdering his mother instead."

Robin's eyes went wide when he heard that. Batman had never shared a lot about the JLA's histories. "Now, every rank amateur knows that the first rule of time travel is you _don't_ fuck around with the past. The reason Uncle B became a forensic scientist was to find out the truth behind his mom's death, and the reason he became the Flash in the first place is because he was in a lab full of highly unstable chemicals when lightning happened to strike him. Eobard Thawne's attempt to erase the Flash inadvertently made a time paradox where he was the _reason_ for his creation. Now, this was way before my time, but Flash chased Zoom through the time barrier, and ended up going back to the night he got his powers and _became_ the lightning bolt that struck him. Which means he, in essence, created the Speed Force."

The raven-haired boy was staring at him in bewilderment. He understood what Wally was trying to tell him, but it still made so little sense. Shouldn't events like that have ripped a hole in the fabric of time? "So, to answer your question, Speed Force is the energy that we tap into which allows us to defy the laws of physics and achieve the impossible. Without it, the speeds at which we run would end up killing us and everyone around us."

Seeing the look on his face, Wally chuckled, "I know it's all pretty crazy sounding. I mean, I have a dozen trophies for science projects and shit on my shelf, and it still took two or three explanations for it all to sink in. At least I understand that stuff, but this is a whole other level of complicated."

Trophies...? Robin glanced at his boyfriend's bookcase and saw the same glittering awards that had been in his bedroom before he moved to the cave. He'd been curious at the time, but got distracted and forgot to ask, "What are they for, anyways?"

Wally unwrapped his arms from around the younger teen and stood, heading over to the shelf.

Following him, the first thing his eyes landed on was a gold-coloured trophy in the shape of a DNA model. "That's an award I got for an essay I wrote in the seventh grade," he said.

"What was the essay on?"

The redhead smiled brightly, "Cellular degeneration. It was for my classes in advanced biochemistry and molecular biology." He didn't notice the look on his boyfriend's face, and moved on to his favourites. "Bradshaw Prize in applied mathematics."

Robin cocked his head to the side, "There's two of them." He observed, recognizing a couple of the awards. He had the highest math grades in all of Gotham Academy, after all. Some of those trophies were very difficult to get.

"Yes!" His boyfriend was smiling brightly now, "One is for my paper on dense triangle-free graph conjecture, and the other is for my mathematical proof that Algebraic Topology sets of Abelian groups will always be self-contradictory. I was the youngest in Kansas state to win more than one in the same year - ten."

The brunette was kind of amazed. He knew Wally had both a gift for and love of all things relating to science, but he had no idea that he'd been in so many contests; and _won_. There was a Stanhope Award in engineering, and even a Helmholtz Medal for something he'd done in advanced placement physics.

Yet, he could see the doubt in the older teen's eyes when Robin complimented him. He knew it stemmed from the inability to please his father no matter how hard he tried. Artemis's comments likely just made him feel even worse. Being the goofy fun one was his his boyfriend kept from letting things get too dark, but it also caused people to believe he was incapable of taking anything seriously. Or, worse, that he wasn't very bright.

Robin knew better though - he could see it whenever Wally began speaking in that hyper, animated time about something he liked. He was quite obviously a prodigy, but after so long of getting picked on, it had begun to do a number on his self esteem. The ninja understood.

Which was why, when the redhead began to shake slightly while looking at the shelf, the younger boy wrapped both arms around his waist from behind, "It's okay, Wally. It doesn't matter what she thinks. Don't be upset."

"I'm not," The speedster's body tensed suddenly, "I'm pissed off. I mean, who does she think she is? What makes her so special? Archery? Arrows Red and Green have been doing that for years! She has the nerve to act like she's unique - anyone can wear a midriff and act like a bitch! Maybe I'm not as fast or smart as Flash, but at least I try to be helpful..." He trailed off, and the trembling worsened.

Robin squeezed him tighter when he tried to pull away, "Relax, then. All of that stress isn't good for your recovery."

"Pfft." He rolled his eyes, but did his best to stop the movements, gritting his teeth. "You know I'm not doing it intentionally, Rob. Anger equals excess energy, and normally I burn it off by running, but I can't. I need to get it out somehow." He broke the brunette's hold with a frustrated sound, throwing himself onto the bed and running his palms over his face, "This _bites_."

The younger hero bit his lip, wondering if he should call Flash or maybe Wally's mother to help him... He eyed the redhead's cast-covered leg with worry. What if he kept vibrating and shattered the bone or something? That would be seriously _bad_.

He needed to calm Wally down and get his mind off of Artemis, before he popped a blood vessel or something.

Mentally going through a list of things that the redhead enjoyed doing, he knew pranking Roy would likely get them both killed, and video games were a no go since M'gann and Conner were having their date in the living room shortly.

As he was trying to come up with something, Robin noticed the subtle shift in his boyfriend's expression.

The anger morphed into despair and helplessness.

Instantly, he crossed the room and climbed onto the bed, reaching out to take Wally's face in his hands. "It's okay, I'm here." He ran his thumb over a freckled cheek, "Talk to me, Walls." Pain-filled green eyes met his own, and the brunette tore off his domino mask so the speedster could see him. "I know what you're thinking, Wally, but you're wrong. You don't need it."

When Robin promised to help the older boy get his life back on track, so to speak, that included not letting the depression get the best of him. The brunette had also vowed to himself to stop the redhead if he ever got the urge to hurt himself again.

As long as he was around, Wally would never again need to feel the cut of a blade, or the angry burn of a cigarette.

Moving closer, Dick rested his head against the other teen's chest, their eyes locked, "I'm here. I'm not going anywhere." He kept repeating similar statements, and eventually felt Wally's arms curl around his smaller frame, squeezing him close.

Like a security blanket.

The Metahuman's body began to shake, but for a reason completely unrelated to his speed. Dick let him cry silently, wanting him to let it all out. As much as he hated the thought of him in tears, he hated the thought of him borderline suicidal, locked alone in a bathroom somewhere, even more.

After sometime passed, the shaking subsided, and he heard the redhead take a deep, shaky breath, fingers combing through his deep black hair, "Thank you..."

 _I'm always here for you Wally, don't ever forget that._

* * *

 **I'm well aware I butchered Flash's and Zoom's story in this chapter, but you'll have to deal. I don't own the comic books and have no way to get my hands on them, and you can't find anything online but short explanations and snapshots of some pages.** **Plus, the Speed Force is - to me - way too complicated to give a full summary of, especially since it's not totally relevant here.**

 **This was mostly a filler chapter, tbh. By the time you get this notification I'll already be working on the chapter centered around the episode "Failsafe." That's sure to be extremely emotional for the whole team. There's most likely gonna be a warning for diabetics that want to read the aftermath with all the angsty fluff I'm gonna write.**

 **Hope this ties you over until then!**


	26. Trauma Drama

**All My Friends Are Superheroes**

 **Summary** : Being a teenaged hero is no walk in the park; juggling school, homework, superpowers, friends and family can be tough, especially when you and your secret boyfriend are tiptoeing around teammates, parents and mentors. However, sometimes in life you have to just stop worrying, and let the stones fall where they may. It might not be that bad, after all. Season 1. AU/OOC. Birdflash.

 **Point Of View** : Third person's POV, set in past tense/story format, with dreams/thoughts italicized. The focus will mainly be on Robin and Kid Flash, of course, but I fully plan to further explore their interactions with the team, and also with their JLA mentors. Story starts after the team has been established, right after the end of their first official mission together.

* * *

 _"After a traumatic experience, the human system of self-preservation seems to go onto permanent alert, as if the danger might return at any moment." - Judith Lewis Herman_

* * *

"So... how does this work again?"

Batman gave Matt a vaguely annoyed look, because he'd already explained it three times, damn it. Then he noticed the unsure expressions on the other teenagers' faces as well, and sighed, motioning to Martian Manhunter. Truth be told, he had his own reservations, but with four new members on the team, having them learn how to work more efficiently together _would_ be helpful...

"It is a simple telepathic training simulation." J'onn told the young heroes, his voice far more patient than the Dark Knight's would have been. "I will connect your team together, so you will all experience the same scenario simultaneously; a hostile alien invasion. If any of you are killed, you will immediately be brought out of the link."

Nodding slightly, Wally chirped in, "Oh, I get it. It's like a team building exercise, to see how we handle working together under intense stress?"

"Precisely."

Mello still seemed wary, "I don't know about this... is it even safe? I mean, having a psychic spaceman poke around inside my head isn't on a top list of my priorities, thanks." He looked at the Martians, "No offense."

"This isn't any more dangerous than your usual telepathic communication with Miss Martian." Batman informed them, causing the original team members to exchange glances, remembering their disastrous mission in Biyalya.

But, then again, there would (hopefully) be no Psimon in this simulation.

It was, to the surprise of everyone, Near that next spoke, "I say we give it a shot." He fiddled with the Transformer toy in his hand. "It will be like a virtual reality game. If anything goes wrong, you can simply press 'exit' and start over."

"Well, I for one will agree to participate." Sushmita announced suddenly, her tone as cheery and optimistic as ever. "Strengthening our bonds can only be beneficial in the future, after all."

Roy looked at the Indian, then crossed his arms and said, "Fine, count me in." His tone was reluctant, though.

"Me too!" Wally declared, moving to stand beside his honorary older brother, and Robin instantly agreed as well, which was apparently enough to convince Conner. Pretty soon, they were all on board, some far more excited than others.

With that sorted, they began, laying on eleven rectangular metal tables all arranged in a circle, with J'onn standing in the center. "Close your eyes. On the count of three, you will be under the trance. Three..."

Robin felt KF's gloved hand reach over and take his. He told himself he wasn't nervous, but the comfort the gesture brought him was unmistakable.

"Two..."

Both of them smiled.

"-One."

* * *

Kid Flash was way more pumped about the training simulation than he probably should have been. It was hard to take a virtual reality seriously, though. He mostly just wanted to know how Martian Manhunter had even the personalities of people he didn't know down.

It was all pretty cool - but not very realistic, considering there was no way one lousy alien fleet could take down the entire Justice League so easily. If anything, seeing the reactions of the simulated people they knew was worse, considering they were designed to think it was real. Virtual Zatara seemed pretty shaken.

Oh well, it was time to save the world.

Sort of.

"We are Earth's heroes now." Aqualad grimly declared, serious as ever even though none of it was real.

Superboy turned to him, "So, what are we waiting for? A theme song?"

"That would be pretty sweet, actually..." Firewire muttered, running his fingers through his auburn hair as he helped Robin search for any possible League survivors via satellite feed.

"No, a strategy. Earth's weapons are ineffective, and it has been made tragically clear that a direct attack will not succeed."

A certain geeky gamer spoke up, "Maybe we should start with why they're here in the first place, and where they came from? It might help us figure out some of their weaknesses, anyway."

"Good idea," Robin tapped a few holographic keys, "Checking satellite imagery..." He brought up the globe, "Here's where the aliens are now." Red dots appeared all over the map, including an isolated one located somewhere in the Arctic.

Superboy pointed at it, "This one get lost?"

"That's Superman's Fortress of Solitude!" He exclaimed.

Cocking his head to the side, the clone asked in an incredulous tone, "Superman has a _Fortress of Solitude?_ " He vaguely heard Kid Flash muttering about how awesome it was, but all the Kryptonian could think was that he seemed to be the only one of his friends that didn't know. Granted, they - excluding M'gann - had been heroes longer, but still... the only thing he knew about the Big Guy was what was on the news or what they told him. It wasn't fair.

"Its power source must have attracted the aliens' attention." The Boy Wonder responded matter-of-factly. "At least enough to send a scout ship to investigate." He frowned at the scowl that appeared on the taller brunette's face.

"Hmph. Must be some fortress..." He turned away.

Miss Martian floated after him worriedly, "Conner..."

He raised a hand to stop her, "No, it's okay. I guess there's a lot about Superman I'll never know." He quickly realized the bitter tone and how he phrased his words would sound to the others, and added, "Uh, you know, _now_."

It didn't fool anyone.

All of them, even the newbies, knew how much he wanted Superman's approval. But could anyone really blame him? Aside from the team, he didn't have any family, and it wasn't like they could relate to his feelings of isolation or teach him how to use his powers. It didn't take a genius to figure out the reason why he was always watching static on TV - the poor guy didn't know how to turn off his advanced hearing.

No one noticed the almost empathetic look Whiteout (Near) had given him moments ago, it was gone before they could spot it.

"We will target this lone ship." Aqualad announced, and Kid Flash gave an enthusiastic fist pump. "Heck ya, we will! Break it down - build more - and then hit those ugly aliens with their own mojo!"

Artemis elbowed him in the side, ignoring his yelp, and hissed, "Martian an Kryptonian in the house."

"Idiot." Red Arrow muttered.

The speedster gulped, turning to face his two friends, whose expressions were unreadable. "Uh, heh heh... Not that all aliens are _automatically_ ugly, or anything..." he rubbed the back of his head, "Just the evil, invading, take-over-the-Earth kind, you know what I'm saying?" He glanced over at Mello and Matt, who he'd developed quick friendships with over a mutual love of things that moved fast, gaming, etc.

"Oh, don't look at me," The blonde, now going by the name Ghost Rider, remarked, "Keep digging. You're doing _great_."

Near brushed past them, heading for the Bio-Ship, "If you are done being politically correct..."

Right, right. They had a job to do!

* * *

What was it with the Leaguers building their secret hideouts into the faces of mountains?

The Batcave, Superman's Fortress, Mount Justice...

Robin would really have to ask his mentor about that one day. Right now, though, they needed to concentrate on winning the simulation. Everyone had their own jobs assigned to them. They had already arrived at their designation, and he was definitely appreciating his new uniform now - longer sleeves, a turtleneck and thermal tights made the biting Arctic air less intolerable.

However, he still had to go change.

Due to being in a totally snow white environment, he needed to go into a camouflage mode considering red, yellow, green and black didn't exactly blend in when you were trying to steal the cannon off of an alien spacecraft. Ghost Rider snickered that he looked like he could stop traffic.

Plus not all of them were invulnerable to frigid temperatures. The only reason KF didn't need a thermal suit was because he naturally ran at a warmer temperature than the rest of them.

"Identifying weapon's structural stress points and links to the ship." He showed Superboy where he needed to break it, "Here, here, and here." They were going to kick virtual butt by using the aliens' tech against them!

That was when everything went to hell.

* * *

"No!" Martian Manhunter's eyes flew open wide, and he shook his head, looking at the teenagers laying in the metal tables, all appearing quite distressed. Except for Artemis, that is. Her breathing had slowed down considerably. The psychic floated over to his niece. "M'gann, snap out of it, please."

He said something that, from the sound of it, was the Martian equivalent to the f-bomb.

"J'onn?" There was a touch of concern in Batman's voice, recognizable only to those who knew him well enough to understand the cues. "What happened? Did something go wrong with the simulation?"

Panicked red eyes met the cowl's white lenses, "I cannot bring them out of it. Miss Martian has... Artemis was killed in the exercise, she has forgotten it is not real. Her powers have taken over my scenario, and the others believe it to be real, too."

A bit stunned by the information, Batman immediately went to check on the others. Wally and M'gann appeared to be the most effected, if their heart rates were anything to go by. Robin's expression was one of deep focus; determination. It was Artemis's condition concerned him. "If she was killed, why isn't she waking up, then?"

"...she is comatose." J'onn replied grimly. "M'gann has an iron grip on the simulation. They all are convinced what they are experiencing is real. It has control over each of their senses. If they die in the simulation, they may perish if we are unable to awaken them."

Looking over at his son's still form, the vigilante questioned, "Can you do anything?"

The Martian let loose a heavy sigh, "I can attempt to enter my niece's - for lack of better term - nightmare, and convince her to loosen her hold of the scenario. We may have to remind them and there may be after effects, but..."

"What is it?"

A troubled expression was on the telepath's face, "It might be necessary for you to inform the others, Batman. If I am unable to stop this, the children will need to be moved to the medical wing."

Comatose sidekicks couldn't exactly care for themselves, after all.

* * *

"What the fuck were you _thinking?!_ " Green Arrow exploded the moment he laid eyes on the Dark Knight. "You know what? Do **NOT** answer that! How could you be so careless? They're _kids!_ For God's sakes, Bruce, they're all already about as emotionally stable an an epileptic blind man with Cerebral Palsy trying to ride a unicycle, and you thought this was a _good idea?!_ "

Batman didn't even blink, "Hello to you too, Oliver."

The man scowled, "Look, just because you put yourself through extreme conditions that even insane people wouldn't dare to try just for the sake of training doesn't mean a bunch of teenagers should be subjected to the same thing!" He stormed past the man and into the medical ward.

What he found there damn near broke the master archer's heart.

His girlfriend, Black Canary, was bent over Roy, Artemis and Sushmita, talking to them in a gentle voice, hoping to penetrate through whatever psychic barrier was keeping them trapped.

Miss Martian was strapped to a hospital bed, strange techy looking cuffs around her wrists, and he understood why. Her hands and eyes were glowing, and they were to prevent her from using her telekinesis and accidentally destroying the room. Flash, Aquaman and even Superman were there, the last of whom was looking at his clone with something close to remorse.

The kids were all hooked up to heart beat, blood pressure and brain wave monitors, a few of them had IVs inserted into their wrists to keep them hydrated. God, they were so still...like corpses.

Martian Manhunter stood in the center of them, completely spaced out.

Suddenly, M'gann cried out, straining unconsciously against her restraints, "Conner!" She was screaming, tears running down her face, and Superboy's monitors beeped, alerting them that he had "passed" as well.

"Who all is left?" Green Arrow asked, swallowing hard as Dinah looked at him with a pained expression, and sighed softly, "Three, now. Just Miss Martian, Kid Flash, and...Robin."

The archer tensed and turned around, expecting to see Batman there, glaring at him for his outburst. Instead, he found the man leaning over his ward's hospital bed, a gloved hand on the boy's, trying to calm down the obvious agitation the ninja was showing.

He was muttering under his breath, "I'm sorry... I'm so _sorry..._ "

Minutes of silence passed, and then Kid Flash's vitals spiked, before plummeting, his heart beat slowed down to almost normal human levels - a definite bad sign. Flash started shaking him, freaking out and attempting to wake him up. Superman had to intervene before he accidentally injured his nephew.

It wasn't long before they lost Robin, too, and there was real fear on the Batman's mostly concealed face.

Seconds after it was all over.

Miss Martian's powers shut off, and her eyes stopped glowing, as did J'onn's. The teens started coming around, groaning in pain and confusion. Roy actually stood up, rather groggily, but his legs nearly gave out and his former mentor rushed over to help him.

At the torrent of questions coming from the upset and rather traumatized sidekicks, Martian Manhunter began to explain. When M'gann broke down in tears at hearing what she'd accidentally done, Captain Marvel flew over and hugged her tight.

Despite being rather shook up, it seemed like everything was going to be okay.

That was when they heard Kid Flash's fearful voice, "Uh, Rob?"

Everybody else turned and saw the speedster sitting on one of the hospital beds, next to Robin. The raven-haired boy was leaning against his best friend, trembling badly. Even with the sunglasses, they could tell he wasn't entirely with them.

"Dead..." The thirteen-year-old whispered. "My fault... Let them all die... _Wally..._ " He buried his face in his hands, making a sound that was a cross between a whimper and a sob. "Please don't leave me alone!" He started thrashing, and the speedster had to grab him so he wouldn't fall into the floor.

Immediately, the Batman was barking orders, telling everyone but Martian Manhunter and Black Canary to leave the room. They were reluctant to listen, but eventually did, too freaked out to do much but listen to their mentors.

"Come on, Kid-"

Kid Flash wrenched his arm from his mentor's grip, zipping back over to Robin's side. "I am NOT leaving!" He said vehemently, reaching out to take Robin's face in his hands. "Rob? Buddy? Can you hear me?"

"What happened in there?" Batman all but growled at the young speedster, who flinched and closed his eyes.

 _Pain... So much pain..._

 _Robin was cradling his burned, blood-soaked body in his arms, crying. He kept apologizing. The redhead didn't know why. It wasn't his fault. He was the one that stupidly thought their friends had been teleported._

 _A shaking hand touched the Boy Wonder's cheek, and KF was wheezing in agony. It hurt so much, even though he couldn't feel his legs or his back at this point. He saw horror on Robin's face and realized it was because of what he was asking him._

 _"Please... Dick. God, it h...hurts. Just do it."_

 _Robin hugged his boyfriend closer, burying his face into his shoulder, "I-I can't, Wally, I can't!" His whole body was shaking with silent sobs. "Don't make me do this, please! I love you!"_

 _He didn't want to be left alone again._

Wally scrubbed the tears from his eyes, "I-I made him kill me." The three adults were stunned into silence by his words. "There was an explosion. It felt so _real_. I thought we were rescuing the others, but... he knew the truth." The teen met Batman's gaze was a frightened expression. "It was a suicide mission. Blow up the mothership and take the aliens with us. Save the planet. But we didn't die..."

If only it had been that simple.

He had grabbed the younger boy's arm, tearing through the unfamiliar halls, desperately trying to escape somehow. Seeing in accelerated perceptions meant he could feel the bomb go off before it happened. The speedster had flung Robin to the ground and jumped on top of him, covering the boy's body with his own in an effort to protect him from the blast.

It had worked, somehow, but he was so badly injured that his healing wasn't even helping anymore. His lower half had been scorched beyond recognition, and Robin had to put out the flames with his cape. He'd held his best friend in his arms as the fifteen-year-old pleaded with him to get it over with.

"This is all my fault," the Metahuman suddenly gasped out, quivering violently. "I made him do it to avoid as slow, painful death. He's just a _kid._ God, why did I _do_ that? I-"

A hand on his shoulder made him pause, and he looked up at the Martian. "This is not your fault, Kid Flash. Robin has always had a fragile mind. Witnessing the elimination of his entire family as a youth profoundly changed him. His brain has gone into this state so as to keep him from suffering further psychological trauma by the outside world."

"He has to wake up..." Wally choked out, looking at his uncle with teary, pain-filled eyes. "He's my best friend, my-"

 _My everything. Please, Dick, you made me promise nto to leave you. You can't leave me, either._

J'onn was staring at him, but he barely noticed, his attention on his Little Bird.

By this point, Batman had laid the young acrobat back out on the medical bed, trying to make him comfortable. The boy kept mumbling to himself. His sunglasses were gone now, and the redhead saw tears trickling out from under closed eyelids, running down his face. "Is there anything we can do to snap him out of it?"

"...I don't know."

* * *

 **This is a rough draft of this chapter, sort of. I've been working on it for more than a week, got stuck and then just finished it in the last three or so hours. Like always, edits will be done later today once I've gotten some sleep and can see straight.**

 **As for the next chapter, more angst! From Robin's point of view: yay! He'll be okay, eventually, don't worry. I just like torturing him and KF. The reason I didn't detail the deaths is because I thought it would be fun to find out from the adults perspectives, in flashes. Then you can see their reactions to the aftermath.**


	27. Fear, Part I

**All My Friends Are Superheroes**

 **Summary** : Being a teenaged hero is no walk in the park; juggling school, homework, superpowers, friends and family can be tough, especially when you and your secret boyfriend are tiptoeing around teammates, parents and mentors. However, sometimes in life you have to just stop worrying, and let the stones fall where they may. It might not be that bad, after all. Season 1. AU/OOC. Birdflash.

 **Point Of View** : Third person's POV, set in past tense/story format, with dreams/thoughts italicized. The focus will mainly be on Robin and Kid Flash, of course, but I fully plan to further explore their interactions with the team, and also with their JLA mentors. Story starts after the team has been established, right after the end of their first official mission together.

* * *

 _"What is needed, rather than running away or controlling or suppressing or any other resistance, is understanding fear; that means, watch it, learn about it, come directly into contact with it. We are to learn about fear, not how to escape from it." - Jiddu Krishnamurti_

* * *

Ten days.

It had been ten days since the telepathic simulation had gone horribly wrong.

Robin had yet to snap out of his trance-like state, and the others had come to the terrifying realization that he was actually slipping deeper into his own mind.

Only a couple of days passed before his vivid "daymares" had gotten so bad he was screaming and thrashing around inconsolably, convinced that everyone he knew and loved was dead. It was like a scene from a horror movie, even worse than the time they'd gone up against Phobia. He was at a serious risk of hurting himself, that's how bad it had gotten.

The Leaguers hadn't had any choice but to hold him down and immobilize him, much to his friends' dismay.

Unfortunately, adrenaline tended to increase physical strength, and it was clear that whatever was upsetting Robin had him constantly on edge. He'd managed to break free of the plastic restraints, leaving them with no choice but to place him in a straightjacket and strap him to the hospital bed.

No one, not even the boy's own mentor, was taking it as badly as Wally was. The teen had refused to leave his best friend's side for any longer than what was absolutely necessary. He had been skipping school, begging his mother to tell them that he had strep throat or something, and to request that they just email his assignments to him.

While everyone had been traumatized to some degree by what they'd experienced, Wally was the only one refusing to move passed it. He was the only one, aside from Robin, who wouldn't even sit down with Black Canary. He knew he was acting irrational - forgetting to eat and shower and sleep wasn't helping his boyfriend in anyway, but he didn't care! The fact that his voice seemed to soothe the brunette ever so slightly at times was enough of a reason to stay with him.

Even as the JLA tried to figure out how to awaken Robin from his nightmarish slumber, they were aware of the increasing risks. While he was handling IV nutrients at the moment, it wouldn't be long before his condition began to deteriorate. They didn't want to have to administer a feeding tube.

They'd already begun medically treating him with an anti-arrhythmic agent mixed with a sedative yesterday morning, when he began suffering from tachycardia. Wally was terrified that he was going to either die from overdosing on the drugs they were pumping into his small body, or have a stress-induced heart attack.

Even now, medicated in a way that would have put an adult elephant in a coma, Robin was weakly fighting against his restraints, tears streaking down his pale cheeks as he whimpered and writhed, mumbling incomprehensibly.

It was excruciating to watch.

But he refused to leave him alone in his condition.

 _He must be suffering so much..._ The redhead was sitting next to the young teen's bed, running his fingers through his raven hair and whispering soothingly as he listened to him babble on like a mental patient. _What if they can't find a way to wake him up?_

J'onn had assumed that this... _state_ was the result of too much fear and stress. A child's mind trying to protect itself from further trauma, but how was that even possible? He wasn't catatonic. Whatever Robin was going through was putting _more_ strain on him, not less. What if it wasn't a coping mechanism? What if the simulation had just been the last straw and Dick had finally snapped?

In the last (almost) five years he'd witnessed the death of his whole family, sans his permanently paralyzed uncle, had been mercilessly beaten by much older kids after being placed in a juvenile facility while awaiting Bruce's adoption papers to go through, he'd had to leave behind everything he'd ever known, was bullied and ostracized at school for being young and different, and that was just the start. In his tenure as Robin he'd been kidnapped, tortured, interrogated, held for ransom, molested and nearly raped. All those things had left him scarred physically and psychologically.

What if it was all too much to handle? What if his best friend was gone for good, lost to the madness that had been induced by years of sorrow and pain? Everything in their lives had been going so well, too.

"Stop it..."

The speedster's head snapped up, shocked, and he felt his heart leap up into his throat when Robin's eyes suddenly opened. Bright, beautiful blue and so very _afraid_. He hadn't spoken coherently since they'd started keeping him sedated. Was he finally starting to come out of it?

His boyfriend started twisting about in the straightjacket, his breathing began to speed up, as did the EKG that was monitoring him. "... _Don't!_ " He turned his head, half burying it in his pillows, and let out a terrified moan, "Get off! N-No! Stop! Don't touch me!"

Wally's blood turned to ice.

 _Oh, God, no..._

Tears began rolling down his face once more, and his struggles turned frantic. He was obviously petrified, fighting against the straps holding him to the bed. "P-Please stop!" He bucked and jerked wildly, trying to get away from an imaginary demon...or dislodge an unseen assailant. " _No!_ Stop! I don't want it!"

Lunging to his feet, the redhead screamed for help as loud as he could, and reached out to take Dick's face in his hands, "Rob, it's me! You're okay - snap out of it!" He begged, trying to will away the frightening memory he knew the younger boy was being forced to relive.

He heard the doors to the medical ward crash against the walls, but paid them no mind.

"W-Wally," Robin sobbed, before his hands balled into fists from where they were pinned to his chest, nails digging into his palms hard enough to make them bleed. "Someone! Make him stop!" The redhead was vaguely aware of Batman's tall form shadowing over him, but he was frozen where he stood.

The brunette's eyes widened even further, and for a moment the speedster _swore_ he was looking straight at them. Then he threw his head back with a pained cry, and the connection was lost. "Bruce..." he choked out in a small, childlike voice, shaking in fear. "God... Stop it! No! Help me! _D-Dad_...please! It hurts!"

Upon hearing a sudden sharp intake of breath, Wally finally looked up, and saw Batman standing there with his gloved hands curled into fists at his sides, jaw clenched tightly.

"You have to up the dosage!" He told the Dark Knight, feeling overwhelmed with helpless despair, "He's dreaming about Pyotr! You can't let him go through that again!" He could tell just from the small portion of the man's face that was visible that the boy's pleas were agonizing for him to hear, too.

Batman shook his head, "I can't. Any more drugs and we risk causing a stroke." The teen deflated, "Besides, we have no way of knowing whether or not the sedatives are actually stopping the hallucinations or just paralyzing him against fighting them."

 _Hallucinations_.

A chill ran down Wally's spine when he heard that. There was a chance that the medicine wasn't helping Dick at all, that he was still experiencing whatever was scaring him, but that the affects just kept him from being able to move. _That's like a form of torture..._

By now, Robin was crying wordlessly, his face displayed a cocktail of familiar emotions; pain, fear, shock, anger, confusion, embarrassment, and helplessness. He wasn't thrashing about anymore, he just laid there...trembling, biting at his lips to try to hold back his sobs.

His throat felt so tight that he could barely breathe, the redhead climbed up on the bed and gently cupped his face, "Dick? Can you hear me?" He brushed the tears away with his thumb.

The younger teen tried to jerk his head away, sniffling when he couldn't. "Go away! Leave me alone! N-No more..."

"I'm not going to hurt you, Rob. I promise." Wally gave a watery smile when the acrobat opened his eyes again, and they seemed just a little clearer this time. His heart started pounding when the boy mouthed his name suddenly. "Yes, it's me! I'm here - I'm not leaving you."

Dick seemed to calm ever so slightly the more the speedster spoke, and just as he began to hope, the teen gave a frightened whimper, "... _No!_ W-Wally," he turned his face into his boyfriend's soft hands, "He's coming back!" He trembled, giving a shudder of disgust. "Please..."

"Look to me," he tilted the teen's head, their eyes meeting, "It isn't real, Robin! There's no one here! Pyotr's in a coma, _I_ put him there. Everything's in your head, you have to snap out of it."

The brunette's shaking intensified, "No, no, no...!"

He was gone again.

"Robin? ROBIN!"

"Is everything okay in here...?" A soft voice asked, and Robin jumped at the sound, struggling in his restraints once more. Scowling, Wally twisted his head around to see Miss Martian, Superboy and Ghost Rider standing there. "Have you figured out what's wrong with him yet?" Conner asked with a concerned expression.

Batman replied for him, "No."

"He looks like he's having a bad dream. A nightmare." M'gann commented as she floated over, her words laced heavily with guilt. "It reminds me of the fairytale movies I watched before I came to Earth..." She gave a sad smile when the other redhead looked at her, "'Not in death but just in sleep the fateful prophecy you'll keep, and from this slumber you shall wake when true love's kiss the spell shall break.'" She quoted Disney's _Sleeping Beauty_.

The blonde teen was suddenly beside the Martian, and he grinned, half-heartedly trying to lighten the mood, "Maybe that's the solution, Quicksilver. Give the Boy Wonder his magic kiss and he'll snap out of it."

Before anyone could react, Wally was throwing himself off of the bed, slamming into Mello and knocking him to the floor, a vibrating fist inches from his face, "You think this is _funny?_ " He seethed, a week's worth of pent up negativity emitting from the speedster. "What the fuck is wrong with you?!" He was pissed. _I doubt he'd be cracking jokes if it was Matt in Robin's place!_

"Well, according to your unlicensed therapist; I'm distrustful, I have anger issues, and an inferiority complex." The older boy smirked. He knew taunting the kid was cruel, but if Wally didn't get his aggression out sooner or later he would blow up. That was a given. He was just giving him a chance to blow off some steam.

Eyes flashing, the redhead was about to leave a crater in the blonde's face when an invisible force pulled him off. M'gann was binding him telekinetically. "Put me the fuck down now Megan!" He snarled her "human" name, "Haven't you done enough?!"

"HEY!" Now Conner looked ticked off, "Don't you talk to her like that! She's only trying to help!"

Wally spat at him, "Easy for you to say, she didn't turn _your_ best friend into a goddamned vegetable!" Instantly, the room dissolved into a shouting match, with Miss Martian trying to play mediator between her Kryptonian boyfriend and the enraged Metahuman, all while Batman stood there with an unreadable expression. Finally, he cut in, "That's enough!"

His voice cut through the arguing like thunder, "Superboy. Kid Flash. Take a walk. _Now_." He gave the redhead a look, and the teen immediately turned to Robin, green eyes pained. "I'll stay with him." The teen really needed a break if he was so quick to snap.

The speedster looked up at the Caped Crusader, and they appeared to come to a silent agreement.

He turned and walked out.

At fifteen years old, there were few people the teen trusted, sad though it might have been. He may not have liked Batman (aside from his usual fanboy hero worship of him), but he trusted him. He knew the guy under the cowl, and so of course he knew he had Robin's best interests at heart. Unlike his _friends_.

Yeah, he was feeling bitter towards them at the moment, and he would definitely owe some of them an apology later for how harsh and volatile he'd been behaving, but right now he couldn't bring himself to care about anything but Dick. How much did his boyfriend have to go through before they could just be happy for once? Was it too much to ask that the universe _stop_ choosing him to fuck with for shits and giggles?

Wally leaned his head against his bedroom door, too emotionally drained to even punch in the password to get into his room.

 _There has to be something I can do... Someway that I can reach him and bring him out of that hell. Think, West!_ An idea hit him out of nowhere, and the redhead's eyes went huge with the realization. _Of course!_

How had he not thought of it sooner?!

* * *

"Are you sure you wish to do this, my friend?"

The medical ward was now almost completely dark - it would have been pitch black were it not for the two dozen or so lit candles that were now lining the walls on the floor. Robin's hospital bed had been moved to the center of the area.

It was late, the cave was quiet. Wally had waited until everyone was asleep before sneaking Soothsayer in. The others had no idea what they were planning.

Wally shook his head, "Not even a little, but I don't have a choice, Sush. We need to do something, or else..." A tremor ran through him. _He'll die. I can feel it. He's not gonna make it that much longer._

Understanding passed over the Indian's face, "You love him very much. I can tell."

She knew, but he didn't try to convince her otherwise. The girl was a psychic after all, it was difficult to hide much from them. "Can you do it?"

"I've never tried to link two minds together before." She confessed, placing one hand on Robin's forehead and breathing deeply, "He's in turmoil, but..." Her dark eyes flashed suddenly, "He's calling out for help. Your help."

The redhead immediately latched onto her hand, "You can hear him?! I thought you weren't a telepath?" The "shout" was more of a whispered yell. If Robin was asking for help then maybe there was still hope of getting him back!

"I am not. What few fail to realize are that the mind and spirit are very much connected. As I read into the souls of others I am able to learn of who they are as a being; their personalities, memories and desires-"

His eyes widened with realization, "Indirectly allowing you to access their brains."

"Exactly." She smiled, "Fortunately for us, fate seems to be on your side. You and Robin have already bonded on many levels: emotional, spiritual, physical..." The redhead blushed, and she suppressed a giggle. "Your souls are intertwined because of your feelings for one another. That shall make my job much easier."

"So, what do I have to do?" Wally asked, determinedly, a bit surprised when Sushmita placed her hand on his head as well. She closed her eyes and he followed by her example. "First, I want you to empty your mind of all negative thoughts. Take deep, calming breaths. Now, I need you to focus on Robin, and slowly drown out sound of my voice. Think of nothing but him..."

That was simple enough considering how often the younger boy dominated his thoughts, "Okay, now what?" He frowned at the lack of response, "Sush?" The teen opened his eyes...and saw nothing. "Hello...?"

He was no longer in the medical ward, he was standing in pitch black nothingness, alone. Did it work? Where was he?

Or did she accidentally put him in a state like M'gann had done with Dick?

Jeez, he hoped not.

Unsure of what he was supposed to do and mildly regretting not asking more questions, he began to wander. "Hello? Is anybody out there? Robin? Soothsayer?" He paused; unable to see where he was going, if anywhere. "Anyone...?"

Not seeing any other options, he chose to continue walking, hoping he would find someone or something eventually. Maybe he'd hit his head and was seeing things, which wasn't really a good thought to have, but he didn't have many ideas of what could have happened.

It seemed like forever before he finally saw something other than total darkness.

There was a door.

Yeah, that was it. Just a door and a door frame - not built into a wall or anything. It was just...sitting there. He raised an eyebrow, and peered around it. Nothing, just more black. Oh, he had a very bad feeling about all of this.

"If this is the start of a bad knock-knock joke..." Wally muttered, grabbing the door handle and twisting it as he pulled back. To his surprise, it was unlocked, but that wasn't such a big deal compared to what he was currently looking at.

 _What the hell? Is this some kind of fair?_

He stepped through the door and found himself standing under a huge tent of some sort, cheerfully annoying music playing in the background. There were stands full of people inside. Relieved and more than slightly confused by this, the teen began to approach someone to ask where he was, when a poster tacked to one of the support beams caught his eye.

Their was a happy, smiling family of six acrobatic performers posed together in matching colourful costumes. The tag line read: _Jack Haly's Circus presents the death-defying family for one week only! Witness it for yourselves..._

A jolt of horror went through him.

 _...The Amazing Flying Graysons!_

Feeling like he was made of concrete all of a sudden, Wally skimmed over the poster again, glancing between the image of the youngest member of the family, and then on the date printed beneath the Graysons. April 1st-7th.

But that was impossible! Unless... the plan had worked after all. He was in Robin's memories.

"So he must be around here somewhere, but where?"

 _Oh, duh! The trapeze!_

Dick had told Wally that his parents hadn't let him perform with them on the night of their final performance (thank God) because they felt it was too dangerous for a nine-year-old to do without a safety net, but his cousin Johnny had convinced them that he should be allowed to watch from the platform...

He started to run towards the ladder, he had to find his boyfriend and wake him up!

That was when he ran into a very large man wearing a security uniform, "Ticket, please." Wally stared at him, blankly, and the man scowled, grabbing him by the upper arm, "No ticket, no entry!" He started dragging him out of the tent.

"Wha-? Hey, no! Let me go!" He dug his heels into the ground, "Listen, you don't understand! My friend is in there and it's not safe!"

As a man with a loudspeaker began to announce their starring act, Wally's struggles increased, his heartbeat spiking. Logically he knew there was nothing he could do, not when it was all just a memory, but his mind was screaming at him to do something to stop it.

That was when he saw the family atop the ladder's platform, and froze, wide green eyes fixed on the small figure standing back. "DICK!" He screamed, trying to be heard over the cheering of the fans. Karla and Rick Grayson began first, their teenaged son following their lead. John and Mary joined them shortly after.

All of a sudden, the tent began to distort, the colors blending together like rain on paint.

Everything that happened next felt like slow motion.

Wally heard the sound of the ropes snap, and he couldn't move, or do anything. The sound of human bodies impacting the ground from so high up was awful. People began shrieking with horror, and the guard that had been holding him let go, stunned.

The redhead felt his stomach do somersaults, but he ignored the nausea and rushed towards the trapeze ladder. He couldn't see Dick from the angle, but several circus employees were trying to convince him to come down, along with an older man that he could only assume was Jack Haly. He wanted to roll his eyes at their incompetence. Trying to make a kid starting to suffer from shock go down by himself, yeah, _that_ seemed intelligent!

Instead of berating them, he shoved passed the memories, and began climbing it himself, which wasn't fun. Could he die in the dream if he fell? Whatever, it didn't matter.

Getting to the top, he searched the platform, and found who he was looking for... sort of: a small black-haired boy sitting with his back against the pole, scared out of his wits. He was staring straight ahead, crying, covering his ears with his hands. He was so pale the speedster was tempted to look by his feet to see if he was bleeding out.

Only once he saw Dick did he realize he had no clue what to say, or do. Was he meant to just let the memory progress? Was it possible to mess up someone's memories?

Whatever. He refused to leave now. Nothing mattered but saving Robin at this point.

Slowly, the ginger approached the nine-year old, getting to his knees next to him, his heart aching. _He's so little..._ Hesitating briefly, Wally reached out and put a hand on his shoulder.

Dick jumped in fright, bright blue tear-filled eyes flashed up to meet his, wide and panicked. "Hey! It's okay..." He offered a small smile, squeezing his shoulder. "Don't be afraid. I'm not going to hurt you."

"W-Who are you?"

The teen swallowed, he didn't recognize him... Maybe there was more than one version of his boyfriend running around, in which case, he was definitely in the wrong place. But he couldn't leave the kid there when he was all alone and frightened.

He drew a deep breath, and replied softly, "My name is Wally West. You don't know me... but I'm here to help you."

For just a moment, the boy looked suspicious of him, and then the brunette's face crumpled, and more tears ran down his cheeks, "They fell. My...my family. Are they-" Wally winced, and his young friend huddled into himself further, trembling. He took a moment to peer over the trapeze stand, and saw police and medical personnel. "We need to get down from here."

Dick shook his head, his lip trembling in a positively heartbreaking expression, "I-I'm scared..."

"I know. I know you are." The redhead moved closer, careful not to startle him. "But you're safe now, okay? I'll help you, and if you trust me, I promise you that we'll get down together." He held his hand out.

The child gazed warily at him for a moment, as if considering the offer, and then suddenly he was jumping at Wally, flinging his arms around the teen's neck and holding him tightly, still shaking as he buried his face in his neck. "I'll be alright, just keep your eyes closed..."

He secured Dick against his chest with one arm, using his free hand to hold the ladder, and before he could get off the platform, he heard the boy whisper into his shoulder, "Don't let go!"

"Never." Wally promised, and began climbing down.

As soon as he reached the ground, they were surrounded by cops, medical personnel, employees and civilians. They were all talking, asking questions. He tried to get through, but it wasn't until an EMT tried to pull Dick from his arms that he got fed up.

"Hold on, Rob. We're getting out of here."

Wally held the boy closer, and shoved his way out of the mass before he took off running, never looking back, tearing out of the tent and through the magic portal, slamming the door shut behind him.

After a few minutes of absolute silence, he tried to open the door again and found it locked.

Weird.

He began walking, one arm behind the boy's legs and the other across his back, making sure his grip wouldn't slip. Occasionally he could hear a soft whimper or sniffle from the nine-year-old, but otherwise he was quiet.

Eventually, Wally found himself on a dirt road surrounded by a forest-like area. He had to stop and stare in disbelief, because it quite literally appeared out of nowhere.

Figuring that it was as good of a place to rest as any, he made himself comfortable sitting against a large tree. "Dick?" He asked softly, turning the boy in his arms and seeing that he was fast asleep. The sight of dry tear tracks on his cheeks made the speedster's chest tighten.

The boy shivered when a gust of wind blew around them.

"Poor kid," He muttered, and wrapped his arms around the brunette's tiny frame, letting his perpetually warm body protect him from the chill. He was way too wound up to sleep, if it was even possible to sleep while in someone else's memories, so he settled for humming quietly and combing his fingers through Dick's hair.

Given how dark it was, he found it impossible to tell how much time has passed. He guessed it had been a couple of hours by the time the young acrobat began to stir, "...Wally?" The child questioned softly, and he 'hmmed' in response, glancing down into those large blue eyes. "Where are we?"

He didn't know what possessed him to give the answer that he did, "We're in your brain, Kid."

 _What the hell did you say that for? He's gonna think you're nuts!_

Dick didn't seem confused or surprised by that at all though. The boy nodded slightly and snuggled close to him again, "You can't change what happened, you know." He mumbled, "Why did you take me away?"

This time he didn't need to think about his answer, "I couldn't just leave you up there, Dick... You're my best friend."

"I don't remember you," the boy confessed, playing with the buttons on Wally's shirt. "But... I still feel like we've met, or that we're going to, someday..." The redhead was impressed by the kid's intuition. "Does that mean you're looking for another me?"

He frowned a little, wondering that himself. "...Yes. At least, I think so. The you that I know, I met when he was only a little older than you are now. But he's going to be fourteen in just a few months. I'm not sure what I'm looking for, but..." The boy peeked at him, inquisitively. "I'm not leaving you until we find a better memory to put you in."

Truth be told, he didn't even know if he could do that, but Wally had taken the kid out of his "place" and nothing bad had happened yet, so he could only assume it wasn't wrong. Plus, real or not, he refused to leave Dick's nine-year-old self in a terrifying memory.

"Dick," he questioned, suddenly getting an idea. Why hadn't he thought to ask earlier? "Do you know how to find another door?"

"Why would I know how to do that?" The boy frowned at him. Wally's shoulders slumped at his answer. It had been worth a shot, it _was_ his head after all. The brunette hesitated, "I think so... But there will be lots of bad things. You don't want to go there."

The teen nodded vigorously as he stood, "Of course I do! I have to find Rob!"

Young Dick blinked, then shrugged, " _Okaaaay_ , but don't say I didn't warn you!" he seemed cheery and different all of a sudden, grabbing the redhead's hand and pulling him deeper into the forest, "C'mon, dummy! Race you!"

His pint sized pal let go suddenly and did a backwards cartwheel before he took off running, "Catch me if you can!"

Staring for a moment, Wally shook his head and chased after the young boy.

 _Talk about entering the Twilight Zone._

* * *

 **Anybody think this chapter was totally random and bizarre? Don't worry, I did too, and I wrote the damn thing! If anyone has a memory of Robin's you want Wally to see and/or interact with, let me know! I'm always open to suggestions! This was partially inspired by the episodes "Nevermore" and "The End III" of the original Teen Titans cartoon.**


	28. Fear, Part II

**All My Friends Are Superheroes**

 **Summary** : Being a teenaged hero is no walk in the park; juggling school, homework, superpowers, friends and family can be tough, especially when you and your secret boyfriend are tiptoeing around teammates, parents and mentors. However, sometimes in life you have to just stop worrying, and let the stones fall where they may. It might not be that bad, after all. Season 1. AU/OOC. Birdflash.

 **Point Of View** : Third person's POV, set in past tense/story format, with dreams/thoughts italicized. The focus will mainly be on Robin and Kid Flash, of course, but I fully plan to further explore their interactions with the team, and also with their JLA mentors. Story starts after the team has been established, right after the end of their first official mission together.

* * *

 _"I think this is what we all want to hear: that we are not alone in hitting the bottom, and that it is possible to come out of that place courageous, beautiful, and strong." - Anna White_

* * *

Robin had never felt so alone in his life.

How long had he been wandering through the darkness, in search of light? He wasn't sure, but it was still better than where he'd been before. Trapped, frightened, alone, and possibly going crazy.

Yes, _crazy_.

What other explanation could there be for what was happening? He kept seeing things, and imagining people that weren't there. There was unimaginable pain one minute, and the next it was gone. His nightmares came to life and then disappeared. Occasionally he thought he saw flickers of good things, too; his family, his friends - the important parts of his life. Then he felt stuck, weighed down, like something was keeping him pinned in place. At one point he could have sworn he was in a hospital.

It had only been the briefest of moments, but he had seen Wally. The redhead was sitting by his side, holding his hand while crying. He wanted to comfort him, but his arms wouldn't move. It was when the boy started talking that he truly realized something was wrong. The words he spoke sent a chill down his spine: _"Please, Dick, snap out of it. I miss you so much."_

What was he talking about?

Robin wanted to grab Wally and shake him, demand answers. Was he dying? Did something happen? He had begged him to explain, but was terrified to realize that the older teen couldn't hear him. The image of Wally had faded. Panicked, he had jumped off of the hospital bed and run from the room. He saw his friends and tried to get their attention, but everytime that he got close, they would also vanish.

He got so freaked out by this that he ran for the exit, only to find the Zeta Beams nonfunctional. When he tried the emergency escape, he managed to get out of the cave. But where the outdoors should have been was nothing but darkness.

Seeing nothing for miles was frightening, but he chose to keep moving forward rather than stay behind in a place that no one could see him.

Just when he was starting to think he'd be lost in the dark forever, he came across a row of three doors. They were virtually identical, except for the strange symbol on each one.

The first door he saw had an emblem of a bat on it, so naturally that was the one he picked to start with. Stepping through the blinding white light, he found himself standing in the library at Wayne Manor.

Dick wasn't so foolish as to immediately assume that he was home. Everything still seemed too surreal.

Wondering what he was meant to do, the boy contemplated looking around the entire place, which would have sucked considering how massive it was, when he remembered the secret passage hidden behind one of the shelves, which led to the Batcave.

Smacking the palm of his hand to his forehead, he quickly found the bookcase and pulled the correct novel, causing the shelf to slide to the side, revealing a set of stairs leading down into darkness.

He went without hesitation.

The place looked pretty much the same as always, which included a familiar pointy-eated caped man sitting at the Batcomputer. Dick heart's jumped, relieved despite knowing it was all some sort of dream.

"Batman?" He asked hopefully, taking a few steps forward. The hero in question glanced up, and a small smile appeared on his face. "Robin."

Hearing his name, the thirteen-year-old broke into a run, heading right for his mentor.

Unfortunately, he wasn't wearing shoes in this dream, and tripped over a rock, falling to the ground with a crash and a pained cry. Batman, to his surprise, got up and ran...right passed him.

"Daddy!"

Confused, the young boy rolled over onto his back and sat up, blinking in surprise when he saw Batman kneeling beside a little girl who definitely hadn't been there before. She looked to be about four or five years old, and was positively precious - with giant sparkly green eyes and jet black hair pulled back into twin pigtails on either side of her head. She was wearing cute little red footie pyjamas decorated with yellow lightning bolts, and was wearing a gold pendant, which spelled out Robyn. With a Y.

Ohhh. Batman hadn't been talking to him, then. So this was...his daughter? That made Dick smile, as he'd always hoped the man would let go of his fear of losing people and settle down.

For a moment he watched the scene, taking in the way Batman smiled tenderly at the little girl.

Then came the shock.

"..." The Caped Crusader's smile faded into a disapproving frown, and he reached out and grabbed the child by the upper arms. " _Robyn Leanne Grayson_ ," he thundered, making Dick's eyes go wide. "How many times do I have to tell you not to come down here?!" He started shaking the girl, "You never listen to me!"

Dick jumped to his feet, "Bruce?! What the hell-" he reached out by his hand passed through the man's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Daddy!" The little girl, Robyn, cried, struggling. "Stop it! Let go, you're hurting me!"

Batman released the child instantly, "You know better than to interrupt me when I'm working." Robyn was now bawling her eyes out. The Dark Knight sighed, and pulled back his cowl, revealing...

 _No. Impossible._

It was him. An older version. But there was no mistaking the twilight blue eyes which he'd inherited from his long dead maternal grandfather. He was in his late twenties or early thirties by the looks of it.

But it didn't make any sense! Dick would _never_ hurt a defenseless child!

"Robyn... I'm sorry. Daddy's working."

The raven-haired girl crossed her tiny arms, "You're always working!" Her lower lip wobbled. "You hate me, don't you? Papa left because of Batman and now you're never around anymore! You just stay down here or go out and play dress up with the bad guys!"

Older Dick looked stunned and hurt by her harsh words, "Sweetie..." He sighed, and pulled her close, running his fingers through her hair. "Your father didn't leave because of Batman. Why do you think that?"

"Papa Wally." Robyn responded firmly, yanking herself out of the man's grip. "I heard him on the phone with Grandma before he went away! He said all you care about is saving people! You don't want to be happy with us 'cause we're not good enough and you're gonna end up dead just like Grandpa and I'll be all alone!" Tears were streaming down her face now. "I _hate_ Batman! And I hate _you!_ " She turned and bolted passed Dick, sobbing, and the child raced up the stairs, slamming the door shut behind her.

The older version of himself looked absolutely heartbroken for a few minutes, staring after the kid. Then, his expression abruptly hardened. He stood up again, pulled the cowl back on and began heading towards the Batmobile.

"Where are you going?!" Dick shouted at his own retreating form, finally snapping out of his shock. "Aren't you going to talk to her? She's your daughter! Nothing matters more than family! What is your _problem?_ "

'Batman' muttered to himself as he got in the car, "The mission comes first. She'll understand that one day..." He drove off.

"No," Dick breathed, as he headed for the exit, too. "She won't..."

* * *

By the time he found the portal back to the darkness, Dick was starting to understand what was going on. Like some cliché dramatic comedy movie, he was being forced to face his fears subconsciously. It took him a while to realize that had been a dream he'd had numerous times.

Where he ended up becoming an even darker version of Batman, something he dreaded, and lost all those he cared about because of it. He saw the sacrifices Bruce had made for the sake of the mission.

He didn't want that for himself.

The second door had a pretty black flower on it.

An orchid...

Dick shuddered at the thought of what could be behind that one, and chose to skip it. To his complete none-surprise, the third door was decorated with a lightning bolt. So that could only mean it was about Wally, right?

Good, he was ready to see some nice thoughts already!

Hesitantly, he tried the knob.

Locked.

 _Wonderful_. He tugged at it, and growled under his breath. The second door popped open, light shimmering from it, and he scowled. "Not happening! Now let me in!" He tried to knock the door down by taling a running start at it.

Just before he could reach it the door flung open by itself and he ended up crashing through to the other side. "Ow! Jeez, that just figured." He pushed himself off the ground, "Haha, Brain. Very funny - fuck you too." Who would have thought his own mind would try to pull pranks on him?

Standing up and dusting himself off, he looked around to find himself in an unfamiliar hallway of a...school?

With a frown, he began to wander, wondering what he was supposed to be looking for this time around. He tried a few doors but none of them would open, and he couldn't speak to anyone either - they just walked right through him.

Eventually, he noticed that the hallway and the people in it appeared to keep looping, something was happening. He stopped, and looked around, that was when he saw a door he hadn't tried yet.

Trying to grab the door knob, he didn't find it locked, but his hand still went through it.

 _Wait! Does that mean...?_

Dick took a deep breath and then walked forward, gasping in surprise as his entire body passed through the classroom door, which shimmered slightly. Whoa. It was kinda trippy. Was this what being high felt like?

That was when he heard a noise, and he turned.

What he saw shocked him into stillness.

 _It...it's Wally!_

He was standing in a typical elementary school classroom, but the only thing that caught his attention was the little boy in jeans and a Flash t-shirt huddled on the floor, crying into his knees. He was a lot younger than the actual real life Wally - but there was no mistaking that shock of messy, reddish-orange hair.

The brunette inched closer, becoming concerned when he saw the fingerprint-shaped bruises around his best friend's wrists, the suspicious marks on his neck and the tears rolling down his cheeks. He looked so hurt and scared and...

 _Oh God._

Robin felt the color drain from his face, his heart pounded as he suddenly realized where he was. Somehow, he was in his boyfriend's head. Maybe Miss Martian hadn't unlinked them? Which meant that little kid version of him wasn't a dream, it was a memory...

A memory of the worst day of Wally's life.

The day he knew still haunted his dreams at night.

He felt helpless in that moment, wishing there was something he could do, when a thought occurred to him... He wasn't able to touch people and certain things, but he'd been able to open some doors and trip on a rock before? So maybe it wasn't that he couldn't interact with anything, but that he could only interact with SOME things. The important ones.

With that thought in mind, Robin squared his shoulders and walked over to the memory of Wally, kneeling in front of him. "...KF?" He touched his shoulder.

The boy flinched so violently that he banged his elbow against the wall with a cry, jerking away from Dick and sobbing, "No! N-No more! I don't want to!" Those words made the brunette's heart break in his chest, shattering it into tiny pieces. He seemed so frightened.

No kid should ever look like that.

"Hey, Wally! It's okay! You don't have to! I-I'm not gonna hurt you, _look_."

As the child slowly moved his hands from his face, Robin slowly lifted his hands up in the typical non threatening gesture. "See? No reason to be afraid. I just want to help you, that's all."

Little Wally sniffled, still looking wary, "Do...do you go to school here?"

He shook his head, "No, but I want to take you away from this place, where you'll be safe. Is that okay?" He gave the redhead a small, hopefully comforting smile. "Don't worry, you can trust me."

The boy hesitated, "Where's Mr... Mr-" he trembled.

Robin's face tightened slightly, and he quickly cut in, "I promise that the bad man will never hurt you again." It was sort of true. The real Wally had told him that after his assault, the school year ended and when he returned, the teacher had apparently transferred to another city. Good, he hoped the guilt of ruining an already suffering child's life tore the bastard up inside.

"Are you a good guy?" The redhead questioned softly, "Like the police?"

Robin chuckled despite himself, "I'm not police, but I'd like to think of myself as a good guy. Have you heard of the Justice League?" The little boy nodded fervently at that. "I work for them."

"Wow..." Young Wally whispered, a small smile spread across his tear-stained face. Slowly, he started to get up, and the acrobat followed suit, surprised when the kid latched onto his arm for support.

He led the small boy out of the nightmare.

* * *

As Robin took the child away from the middle school, the redhead made a request of him suddenly:

"Before we leave, can you take me to see my baby sister?"

Confusion swept over the raven-haired teen. As far as he knew, Wally only had one sister, and she'd already passed away by this point. But maybe things worked differently in your mind? "Uh, sure. Yeah, absolutely! Where is she?" The boy turned and pointed to something he'd neglected to notice across the street.

Keystone Cemetery.

The young teen swallowed, but nodded, "I, er—right, of course. Lead the way."

Wally hummed quietly as they walked, bending over to pick a handful of wild violets that he spotted near the fence. When he saw the blood staining the seat of the boy's pants, he wanted to be sick. As he watched the child version of his best friend pick flowers for his dead sister and begin singing some of the lyrics to "Hey Jude", Robin felt rage bubble up inside of him again.

How could anyone hurt such an impossibly sweet boy?

The acrobat wasn't just thinking about the teacher that assaulted him, but his own father that beat him mercilessly and the countless older teenagers that took advantage of him sexually while he was young, just because he was vulnerable and, in their eyes, willing.

Sure, he had only been a year younger than Dick was now when he became sexually active, but that was with boys and girls who were four to six _years_ older than him, teenagers who got him involved with alcohol and drugs and only helped in adding to his depression-induced self-destructive behaviour.

"Okay, I think this'll be lots." The little redhead declared as he held the stems of the flowers together. He reached out to take Robin's hand, and led him through the graveyard to where his sister was buried.

Wally stopped in front of a hauntingly beautiful statue of a dancing young girl with angel wings on her back, her sunny expression looking upwards at the sky. On the front near the bottom of the base had his sister's full name (Leanne Rose West), along with her birthdate and death date.

Beneath it were the words, _"Cherished In Life, Treasured In Memories."_

The teenager hero watched silently as Wally fiddled with the flowers, and eventually he had to ask him what he was doing, having expected him to place them on the grave.

"I'm making her a crown," Little Wally said, matter-of factor, as his fingers carefully weaved the tiny violets together with surprising skill. "She was my princess after all, and every princess needs a crown so everyone knows how special and important they are." He looked up and smiled sweetly, "I'm her champion. It was a game we played when we were little. We'd pretend the backyard was a forest in medieval times and I'd have to rescue her. Sometimes, though, she would save me instead. I think I miss that the most..." he sighed softly. "I hate being alone."

Unable to restrain himself any long, Robin dropped to his knees beside the younger version of his best friend and pulled him close, hugging the child tightly while taking care not to destroy his handywork. "You're not alone." He promised softly, "I'm here for you now."

* * *

 **I am SO sorry for the long delay in this admittedly short chapter. Truth be told I haven't been feeling very inspired in the dark story department lately. I fully intend to finish this story as well as my other YJ ones, though, it just might take a awhile. In the meantime, I might decide to write a Batfamily fic that will surely be angsty, but also sweet. Maybe all the smut I've been writing has made it harder to get in the right headspace, I don't know.**

 **Let me put it this way: I want to update all of my stories, but I have to feel inspired to do so, or I won't be able to write. I'll just end up frustrating myself. Remember this, if I haven't deleted the story it will be updated eventually!**


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